


The Midnight Lovers

by EmImagines



Category: BBC Sherlock, Sherlock (TV), Sherlock - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, General Shenanigans, Heartbreak, Roadtrip, Roadtrip!AU, Romance, Swearing, hilarious moments, you and Jim are hilarious together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 15:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 28,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11360673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmImagines/pseuds/EmImagines
Summary: After an argument you leave your boyfriend, Greg. Months later your friends ask you on a road trip, only Greg was invited too. What the two of you don’t know is your friends have planned this trip to try and get the pair of you to rekindle. But will it work?





	1. Chapter 1

It was midnight when you grabbed your jacket and clutched it with a fisted hand that was so tight your knuckles were turning white. 

"Y/N don't go..." He pleaded and gently grabbed your arm before you harshly tugged it out of his grasp. 

"No! You wanted me to go! I'm going! And I'm NEVER coming back"

"I didn't mean what I said, baby please don't-" Greg's voice was cut off as soon as the door slammed shut leaving the flat in bitter silence. He pressed the balls of his hands to his eyes and rubbed them letting out a sad sigh. 

He soon felt five pairs of eyes burning their gaze into his back. He turned and dropped his hands to his sides as his eyes welled with tears. 

This night was to bring you and Greg closer together, not further apart. This was a night for a catchup with all your friends and a chance to rekindle your relationship. The past few weeks had been full of silly spats and pointless arguments over ridiculous things. 

Now he'd lost you. 

"So back to the movie then?" Sherlock blurted out and everyone glared at him

"Sherlock! Timing!" They all, apart from Greg, screamed out. Greg waved it off and slowly made his way to his room. 

A few months later a knock on your door made you place down your steaming cup of tea and book so you could answer it. A pleasant surprised smile graced your face seeing the person on the other side "Mary! What are you doing here?" You asked bringing the blonde haired woman in for a hug. 

She had a playful smirk on her face "John's got his parents camper van for two weeks since they are away on holiday and we are all going on a road trip from London to the Orkney Isles to see the northern lights!" She almost squealed with excitement. 

You yearned for a spontaneous adventure and replied with an instant yes and packed your bags later that day. John picked you up the next morning in the camper van and you stepped into it with a smile as he shut the door behind you. He had a uneasy smile on his face that you raised a brow at. 

"Y/N..." 

Your smile fell as you turned your head and spotted him. 

"Greg..."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm not doing this" you huffed out and turned to leave but Mary screamed at John to drive, trapping you in the camper van. "Mary!" You screamed before she and Molly dragged you off to one of the rooms. "This is technically kidnapping!" 

"Hmm no it's not," Mary sent you a forced smile "You agreed to come with us!" 

"Yeah before I realised that _**HE**_ was coming!" You argued back and the tall blonde rolled her eyes. You looked at Molly almost pleadingly "Tell her to let me off this bloody tin can!". 

Molly glanced between both you and Mary nervously "Sorry Y/N!" She squeaked out before quickly leaving. You let out a sigh and screwed your eyes shut. 

"You've planned this for weeks haven't you?" You opened your eyes and glared at Mary who had a proud smile on her face as she nodded at you. Mary sat down on the bed beside you and took your hand in hers. 

"Y/N you've been avoiding everything for months, trapping yourself away in that stuffy little flat. So what if Greg's here?" When she said his name you felt your heart tense "You were such good friends before-"

You cut her off "Before we decided to jeopardise that friendship by being in a relationship and then it all went to shit". You could hear Mary let out a sad sigh. She knew you were right, you didn't just lose the man you loved that day, you lost your best friend too. 

"Please stay, you've always been the one to unite everyone together. We're lost without you. Sherlock and Jim are constantly bickering again-"

"What!" You cut her off with a gasp "Those idiots, I'm going to sort them out!" You told her and she laughed lightly. 

"See! You bond us all together! You need to stay, you don't even have to acknowledge 'you know who' if you don't want to. He's already been told and if you act civil he will too" Mary sent you a wary glance and you raised a unamused brow. 

"I am civil" you told her crossing your arms and stuck your head up to convince her. 

Mary didn't look convinced. 

"Oh yeah just like the time you were so civil towards Molly's ex that you broke his nose...." She sarcastically trailed off. 

"He deserved it" you mumbled out. "So who's shacking up with who?" You asked glancing at the two single beds in this particular room. 

"Well," Mary began "There are four sleeping quarters. You'll be sharing this room with Molly," a weight was lifted from your shoulders when she told you that "John and I are taking the double bed that's on the upper deck bit, Sherlock and Jim are sharing a room with the other two single beds in it and Greg's room only holds a single bed so he's in there". 

You slowly nodded, you silently hoped the next two weeks would go quickly. Mary placed your bags under your bed and dragged you back through to the small kitchen and living room. John was driving and London seemed to be a distant memory by now. Sherlock and Jim were silently glaring at each other, Molly was watching television and Greg was half sleeping on the small chair. 

"Think I'm going to sit with John for a bit" you told Mary who nodded at you with a smile. You walked passed the four of them, playfully ruffling Sherlock's hair, it broke away his glares from Jim. 

You sat down next to John who sent you a sideward glance and a grin "Sorry about Mary," John sympathetically sighed "She was determined". 

You shook your head "It's alright, even if I did attempt to escape she would hunt me down." John burst out laughing as he came to a traffic light and slowed down "Anyway I just need to put my feelings to one side and try and enjoy the two weeks. It will be good to properly hang out with everyone again, just like when we stared Uni". You smiled remembering the day you first met each other. It was mandatory to take a social subject and you, Molly, Mary, Sherlock, John, Jim and Greg all ended up in the same class. Four years later you had formed a close group of friends and were practically inseparable, although you had known Jim for much longer so the pair of you were practically glued together. 

It was nearing the end of Uni, there was only a few months left then you would all be tossed out to the world. "I'm hoping there's going to be no trouble, Y/N. When you and Jim get together you're a pair of pranksters" John lightly chuckled while focusing in the road. 

You let out a fake surprised gasp and placed your hands to your chest "John Watson! James and I are two completely innocent human beings..." You trailed off with a sinister smile. Jim approached you and placed his hands on your shoulders. 

"You called me, darling?" He asked. 

You tilted your head up to face him "John called us, and I quote, 'a pair of pranksters'". You and Jim both focused your gaze on John who shifted uncomfortably on the chair. 

"Us? Pranksters?" Jim said as if it was incredulous thing he had ever heard. 

"I know!" You squeaked "It's not like we superglued Sherlock's socks to him and then also superglued the inside of his shoes so they were stuck to his feet and then he had to go to hospital to get them removed". You sarcastically told John before bursting into a fit of giggles with your partner in crime. 

"Come with me," Jim whispered in your ear "We need to talk".


	3. Chapter 3

A sinking feeling swept over you. You knew what Jim was going to talk to you about. 

You and Greg. 

You and Jim were so unbelievably close as friends, you shared the deepest of secrets with him and he shared his with you. You both just got each other. Not to mention the fact that you are both amazing pranksters. You had chatted with Jim lots times after storming out that night and you always tried to avoid him bringing it up by changing the subject. There was no hiding from Jim now. 

He closed the door of the bedroom he was sharing with Sherlock behind him "Well?" He raised a brow as you sat yourself down on his bed. 

"Well what?" 

Jim rolled his eyes and moved towards you, sitting at the top of the bed with his legs crossed. You turned to face him and mirrored his position. "You and Greg. You never told me the reason why you stormed out all those months ago". 

You let out a sigh and your gaze fell to your hands "We would just argue and bicker over the silliest things. It was never like that before we got together. Maybe we just saw each other in a different light. I admit what I did, just storming out, was stupid. I lost more than a boyfriend that day. I lost my best friend". 

"Hey!" Jim whined "I thought _I_ was your best friend?" You playfully rolled your eyes and pushed his shoulder slightly. 

"Enough about me," you sighed out "What about you and Sherlock?" You asked and you saw Jim's demeanour shift. 

"What about me and Sherlock?" He scoffed and folded his arms like a sulking five year old. 

Your brows furrowed "What happened?! You were so close to asking him out!".

"Mycroft happened!" Jim huffed "He told me I should just stay away, that Sherlock doesn't need me and that he needs to focus on Uni. I think that what he was saying is that Sherlock is too good for someone like me..." Your heart tightened in your chest for him. Jim was never the best at showing any feelings nor was he the best at expressing his emotions. 

"Who cares what Mycroft thinks," you told him and he perked up a little "It's what you want. He shouldn't interfere. I'm sure if you just sat down and told Sherlock how you feel everything will fall into place after that" you smiled and clutched onto his hand "Come on, I'm sure I saw some of Sherlock's socks we can hide to annoy him" you winked and an ecstatic smile spread over Jim's face. 

Twenty minutes later you had emerged out the room with Jim. Sherlock suspiciously narrowed his eyes at the both of you. Mary was in the small kitchen making some tea and you joined her "Hey, need some help?" You asked and she tilted her head to you. 

"Nope I'm alright, you want a cup?" She asked and you replied with a no "You feeling alright about...everything?" She asked hinting towards Greg being on the trip. 

You nodded and sent her a thin lipped smile "Yeah," you leaned in a bit closer to her to whisper "I think I'll have a talk with him later". Mary nodded with a proud smile, she really hoped you would work things out with Greg. 

You sat down across from him, grabbing your book that you took everywhere with you and settled down as the camper passed through the English countryside. "I got you that book..." A timid voice caught the attention of your ears and your eyes flickered from the pages to Greg then back to the page. 

"You did. Thank you" you acknowledged him, surprising everyone. Including yourself. 

"You....you don't have to thank me" Greg stuttered out and you started to get irritated. You just wanted to read in peace. 

"Well I am, thank you for such a beautiful book. Pity that it was probably the only beautiful thing about us." You snapped out, irritated. Everyone winced slightly at your tone, you were even disheartened by it. You didn't mean to be so snappy, but you were stubborn enough not to apologise. 

A moment of uncomfortable silenced hung over the van before Greg opened his mouth again "You don't mean that." 

He was right, you didn't mean that. 

You looked up to him with sad eyes before returning to the words written in your book bursting with beautiful poems. This page read; _'The rain is cold and bitter like a jealous lover. Yet rain is endearing and stubborn. The drops kissed your skin. It loved you. Like everything else on this earth and beyond.'-anonymous._

The book was a staple. Greg got it for your birthday years ago when you first met him. You had read it over and over again countless of times, you loved it. It was basic, no pictures, a plain brown paper cover with the words _'Poems for her by anonymous'_ on it. 

He said he found it nestled between two overbearing books at a bookshop. It was the greatest gift you had ever gotten. You had a book mark with everyone printed on it that permanently lived between the pages of this book. You put it down on your lap and looked up to Greg between your lashes "No I didn't," you uttered out under your breath. Greg let out a small sigh of relief just as John was stopping at a campsite for the night. 

John and Mary set up a small barbecue for dinner and you all sat in a comfortable silence before sharing stories about uni. However you and Greg both kept quiet, sharing subtle glances between one another. 

It was nearing eleven at night when you felt a small tap on your shoulder, your head tilted up towards those brown eyes you once fell for. 

And never stopped falling for them, not even now. 

"Can we talk?"


	4. Chapter 4

You silently nodded and stood up off the green camping chair. You walked away from the group, side by side with Greg. 

"How's this going to work?" Molly asked when you and Greg were both out of earshot. 

"We're just going to have to open their eyes and show them that they are perfect together" Mary told her and the group. 

Sherlock rolled his eyes "I don't see why we're getting involved?" 

"Because we care about them!" Jim snapped. 

"You? Care?" Sherlock sarcastically questioned Jim who shot him a glare. 

"Enough!" John interjected "Look we've got just under two weeks to get them back together, I'm sure we will" he smiled and Mary laced her hand with his. They all turned to face you and Greg with small smiles on their faces. 

"I'm sorry" you finally spoke up after walking in silence for far too long. Even though it had only been five minutes. "I shouldn't have stormed out that night, to be frank I can't really remember why now" you sombrely told him, folding your arms against your chest to provide you with some warmth as a cold breeze started to pick up. The campsite was near the coast, Great Yarmouth to be exact. The stars were bursting with life against the black sky when you looked up. 

"You love them..." Greg quietly trailed off and you turned your head to look at him, furrowing your eyebrows slightly confused at his outburst "The stars" he told you and pointed up. You sent him a thin lipped smile before looking at your feet, he continued talking "The day I first met you, that was one of the very first things we talked about, the stars. We talked about them for hours". 

You could feel your heart pounding in your chest from worry, sadness... _happiness_. Then Greg spoke again, lowering his voice "I understand why you walked out, we just fought all the time didn't we?" 

"Over such stupid things" you added with a sigh. 

"I'm sorry" you both said at the same time and then bashfully chuckling. Greg stopped and you did to, you faced him and those beautiful brown eyes. They were the only things you loved more than the stars, but you never told him. 

Greg outstretched a hand and placed it on your shoulder you felt the familiar warmth spread through your body "I miss my best friend" he admitted. 

"I miss mine too..." You sadly trailed off "Can we try and forget everything that happened and start fresh as best friends?" You asked subtlety glancing at Greg's watch that just hit the stroke of midnight. 

"Yeah," you didn't hear the hint of disappointment in Greg's voice, he was hoping you and him could have another try at a relationship but if you wanted it to be this way, just best friends, then he'd do it for you "I'd love that". 

You both returned to the spot where the camper van was, Mary, John and Sherlock were still outside by the small fire while Molly and Jim went to bed. You went to your bed while Greg stayed up for a little while longer. 

"How was the talk with Greg?" Molly asked half falling asleep. 

"Alright," you replied taking off your shoes "We're best buds again" you smiled to yourself. You turned round to talk to Molly again but she was already sound asleep. You playfully rolled your eyes and changed into your pyjamas before crawling into bed and falling asleep. 

The next morning you woke up the the mouthwatering smell of Mary cooking breakfast, you were starving. Rolling over in your bed you noticed Molly waking up herself, stretching out her rested muscles and gently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Morning" she tiredly murmured and turned to face you "What time is it?" 

You grabbed your phone and checked "Eight" you grumbled. You opened your mouth to speak again before the door burst open and Jim was standing there in bright pink boxers. He jumped on top of you screaming 'Wake up, wake up' over and over while tickling you. "St....stop!" You giggled out and managed to roll over off the bed, landing on the floor with Jim on top of you between the two beds "It's too early for this shit, Jim". 

He stood up and pulled you up with him "Oh come on Y/N! It's the first full day of this trip!"

"Get me a cup of coffee and I'll feel much more excited" you told him whilst half shutting your eyes. He rushed off to get you a cup and you collapsed back into your bed. 

"He's going to jump on you again" Molly tiredly mumbled. 

"He won't if he knows what's good for him" you replied but as soon as he got your coffee, Jim placed down the cup and leaped on you. _Again._

He dragged you out of bed and you clutched into your cup of coffee as you made your way into the living quarters with him "Morning" you waved with a small smile receiving a choir of 'good mornings' in return. Your eyes locked onto Greg's and you sent him a smile "Morning Greg" you greeted him separately and sat next to him "Sleep well?"

"Uh yeah I did thanks," he focused all his attention on you "How did you sleep?" He asked and you echoed his answer. You both fell into a bubble of ~~uncomfortable~~ silence before the camper van filled with the noise of people eating. You helped John wash the dishes before organising to go in for a shower, you stripped off and turned on the shower, stepping into the cubicle, pulling over the flimsy plastic curtain and letting the warm water cascade over your skin. 

You were in the middle of washing your hair when the van began to move, making you stumble slightly. Shampoo trickled down the side of your face and into your eye "God dammit" you muttered and attempted to grab a towel but instead you grabbed an arm and let out a scream. 

"Calm down Y/N!"

Jim. 

"What the hell Jim! I'm showering!" You shrieked with your eyes squeezed shut to try and alleviate the stinging sensation. 

"Hasn't stopped me before, you want a towel?" He asked with a smirk and grabbing onto one. You let out a huff and stuck you hand out, quickly snatching onto the towel and rubbing your eyes before placing it over the shower rail. "How did your little chat go last night? You and lover boy sorted everything out?" 

You rolled your eyes "We're friends again. That's it" you told him washing the shampoo out of your hair "I can't believe you're pissing while I'm having a shower. Again." You lightly chuckled remembering the first few times he did it, now it was a regular occurrence but you didn't mind Jim had no intention of looking. Plus you had grown that comfortable around him, as well as that, you had both seen each other naked more than once from drunken shenanigans, like the time you both thought it was a funny idea to go skinny dipping in the Thames in late November. 

"We'll I'm sure you're used to it by now..." He trailed off and flushed the toilet making you scream as the warm water suddenly changed into freezing water. 

"EVERY FUCKING TIME!" You screamed and turned it off, wrapping the towel around you "I'm going to kill you" you growled and Jim laughed while washing his hands, turning around to flick some water in your face. 

"Bite me"

"Wouldn't you rather have Sherlock do that?" You asked with a sinister smirk which did not impress Jim one bit. 

You left the bathroom and quickly changed before returning the the group in the living quarters. The scenery had changed and you were driving through a quaint little village surrounded by an endless stretch of green fields. 

You scanned for a seat and sat yourself down next to Greg who had the most space beside him. You sent him a quick smile and he sent you one in return before you grabbed your book and read the next poem in your book; _'You are so beautifully oblivious. When you open your eyes, love is staring right at you'_

Your eyes flickered up to Greg who was scrolling through his phone before returning to your book.


	5. Chapter 5

"I can take over for a while John, you've been driving all day yesterday and most of today. Go get a rest" you told him with a smile as he pulled up to a red light. 

"You sure?" He asked quickly removing his seat belt and you nodded before quickly changing places with him. 

Sherlock let out a gasp "You can't be serious John! Don't you remember last time we let Y/N drive a car?!"

You rolled your eyes and started driving "That was one time remember?" You retorted back "Course you do cause you're still alive!". They all, apart from Sherlock, let out a laugh. Molly came over to keep you company as you drive to the campsite you'd be staying in for the night in Skegness. 

"Enjoying it so far?" Molly asked. 

"Surprisingly yes, it's a good laugh with everyone. Like the good old days" you tilted your head to her with a smile. You focused your eyes back out the windscreen and noticed a figure just at the end of the road. "Is that....Phillip Anderson?" You asked and Molly's eyes shot forward. 

"It is!" She said a little too enthusiastically which made you raise a brow. 

He was standing with his thumb out so you slowed down the van. The gang gathered around thinking something had happened. "No everything's fine, that's Phillip Anderson he's in my class at Uni. I'm pulling over to see if he's alright." You pulled over and opened the door "Hey Anderson!" You called him by his nickname "Everything alright?" You asked. 

"Yeah I'm hitchhiking!" He grinned and you raised a brow at the gang. 

"Where are you going?" Mary asked. 

"Well I'm planning to travel up to the north of Scotland" he told everyone. 

Molly's eyes widened and before she could comprehend what she was saying she asked him to join since you were all going that way anyway. You didn't mind and nether did anyone else, apart from Sherlock, obviously. 

"Where will he sleep?" Sherlock questioned raising a brow. 

"He can crash on the couch" John told him. 

"Anderson's not that bad, Sherlock. He's actually...he's...uh...he won't kill us..." You joked with a grin. "Maybe." Sherlock let out a scoff and he rolled his eyes. Anderson noticed him and waved with a friendly smile. 

"Hey Leslie!" Anderson greeted Sherlock and you looked to Jim before the pair of you tried to contain your laughter. Sherlock let out a low growl and glared at the two of you. You and Jim started something in Uni and changed Sherlock's name to Leslie Holmes as a joke. Students and lecturers referred to him as 'Leslie' for almost a year. Clearly Anderson thought that was still his name. 

"I'm going to kill the both of you" Sherlock muttered under his breath. Everyone settled and you continued driving to the campsite, eventually arriving at about four in the afternoon. 

After settling down you helped Mary make a list of things needed from the shops. They were about half a mile away and Jim joined you. Even if it did take a bit of convincing to allow you both to be sent off unsupervised and shop for everyone. You read the list aloud as you both walked along the pathway that was surrounded by trees and fields on either side. 

"So we need some food shopping, Molly needs hairspray, John needs those heat patch things for his shoulder, Mary needs face wipes and wants ice cream, Greg needs-" Jim cut you off with a snort. 

"Condoms for you and him" 

You sent Jim a glare and pushed his shoulder "Shut up! He needs shaving foam and Sherlock's requested that we get his specific shampoo and body wash" you folded the list and put it into your pocket. Jim interlocked his arms with yours as you strolled along. 

"So was it a mutual decision?" Jim broke the comfortable silence. You raised a confused brow and asked him to elaborate "You and Greg, was it a mutual decision to be 'just friends'". Your face scrunched slightly. 

"I think it's for the best, can we talk about something else?" 

"Like....?" 

"You and Sherlock" you told him and he let out a loud groan "Oh come on you two are great together! Stop worrying about what Mycroft thinks. If you want I can have a word with him, tell him to back off a bit and leave the two of you be." Jim let out a sigh and he didn't say a word, you stopped just as you reached the entrance of the shop "I know how you feel about him....you've always felt it. I've seen it since the very first day you laid your eyes on him". 

Jim flickered his eyes up to you and he let out a huff while rolling them "I hate you" he joked. 

"I love you too. Come on I have an idea..." You trailed off and pulled Jim into the shop with a devilish smirk, the one that he knew well. You had a prank that you knew he'd love. 

You returned back to the camper van with bags of shopping in hand. You got everything and had set up your prank for Sherlock. You and Jim bought fake tan and added it to Sherlock's body wash and you had also got bright blonde hair dye and put it into his shampoo. 

You put the shopping away with Anderson, chatting away about upcoming exams and essays and Uni life in general. That was until the subject of Molly came up. 

"So is she....seeing anyone?" He asked in a low voice and you gave him a sideward glance. 

"Nope," you replied popping the 'P' and poured yourself out a glass of water. The others were sitting outside enjoying the sunshine "Why do you ask?" You smirked and you noticed Anderson shifting a little on the spot. 

Anderson opened his mouth but he quickly shut it when someone walked into the van and you turned with a small smile "Hey," you greeted Greg "You wanting anything?" You asked and he shook his head. 

"No I was just wondering when you two of you were coming out?" He asked sounding the slightest bit jealous. 

Your eyebrows slightly scrunched together but you shook off the tone he had used "Yeah will be out in a minute, you go out Anderson," you motioned him with your head to the door "I can finish up here". Anderson happily went to sit outside. Greg remained in the van with you. 

"Was there anything else?" You asked.

Greg silently shook his head before stopping mid shake "Well...." He trailed off and closed the gap between the two of you. Your brow lightly furrowed and you turned to face him only to realise that he was surprisingly close. You could feel your heart skip a beat and you swallowed hard "There's a pub just up the road, do you want to go?" He spoke in a low voice and you blinked, slightly taken aback, he was being very serious just to ask you that. 

"Uh sure! I'd love to! Will be funny to see Sherlock drunk again," you chuckled and glanced back to Greg noticing his face falling slightly "Greg?" 

His gaze snapped up to you and he lightly shook his head "Oh no...I was thinking it was just going to be...you know...you and me..." 

"Oh," you managed to mutter out "Well we can go ourselves if-"

"No! No that's alright. Like you said it will be a laugh" Greg cut you off and sent you a thin lipped smile before escaping the camper van. You let out a aggravated huff, scolding yourself for assuming he meant everyone and not just you. 

You leaned over the kitchen worktop and let out a sigh just as Mary walked in "Everything alright Y/N?" She asked and put a hand on your back. 

"Yup!" You stood up and plastered on a smile "Let's go to the pub!"


	6. Chapter 6

The eight of you entered the pub and glanced around noticing three other older people, not including the two barmaids one who was slightly older than the girl who was around your age, were in the pub. 

"I'll get the first round" John announced, Anderson and Sherlock helped him whilst the rest of you grabbed a table. You sat opposite Greg and nervously played with the coaster between your fingers. 

You felt Jim nudge you with his knee "You okay?" He muttered to you and you nodded just before the three boys returned with drinks in hand. 

"Here's to friendship and road trips" John toasted holding up his pint glass. 

"And love!" Mary interjected and your eyes locked into Greg's as soon as those words left her lips and you clinked your glass together with his. You quickly gulped down your drink and let out a deep breath. 

"Want to dance Jim?" You asked getting a slight buzz from the alcohol streaming through your blood. 

"You don't have to ask me twice, darling" he outstretched his hand and pulled you to the retro looking jukebox that had a multitude of records. "Look Y/N!" Jim gasped and frantically hit your arm "They have _our_ song!" Your eyes widened and you let out a delighted squeal as Jim pressed on 'Nothing's gonna stop us now' by Starship. It was the song that was playing when you first met him and ever since then it had been dubbed as yours and his song. Jim always sang the male vocals and you always sang the female vocals. 

As soon as Jim started singing Mary rolled her eyes with a chuckle "Oh no," she muttered taking a sip of wine "They're at it again". 

You and Jim were having a rare old time singing your hearts out "Come on guys!" You encouraged the others that were sitting at the table "Sing the final verse with us!" 

They all looked at each other and began singing in unison with you and Jim, the others in the pub were amused with the entertainment. 

You and Jim screamed out at the top of your lungs while playing air guitar together. The song finished and everyone applauded you and Jim who were giggling away like a bunch of school kids. 

"Let's do shots!" Jim suggested and your smile faded fast. 

"Oh no! No, no, no, no, nooo! Don't you remember last time? Probably not!" You sighed "Last time we had two shots, _TWO!_ When I came over to visit you when you were at your grans back in Ireland and we ended up in Wales that night" Jim's eyes widened remembering how awful he felt for a whole week after it. 

"I still don't know how we're alive" he breathed out. 

You let it a giddy giggle and dragged him to the bar ordering drinks for the both of you and the rest of the gang. Your eyes caught sight of a rather handsome looking bartender who had been hiding in the back. 

"Hi! I'm Rick," He shot you a pearly white smile "What can I get for you?" He asked sending you a smouldering look with you couldn't help but blush at. 

Jim rolled his eyes, unimpressed with his pathetic flirtatious looks. He told him the order and you took out your purse "It's on the house if I can have a dance with you? I was watching you earlier and, well, I'm _very_ impressed". 

You gently bit down on your lip with a bashful smile "Well that sounds like a deal" you stuck your hand out for him to shake "I'm Y/N" 

Rick the bartender warmly smiled and broke his gaze away from your eyes "I'll grab a couple more glasses from the back" he winked and rushed off to get some. 

You turned to Jim with a smile but he didn't look impressed "What?" You asked. 

Jim scoffed "Rick? More like Dic-"

"Here you go!" Rick came back with some glasses in his hand "I'll help you guys over to the table". He walked around the bar and helped you and Jim back to the table with the various bottles and glasses in hand. 

Mary shot Jim an odd look noticing you standing far too close to the bartender "Who's this?" She asked with a convincing fake smile. 

"Uh this is Rick!" You introduced him "Rick this is Mary, John, Sherlock, Molly, Philip but we call him Anderson, you've met Jim and that's...Greg" you choked out his name. They muttered their hellos and you took a gulp of your drink "I'm going to dance with Rick, he gave us the drinks on the house if I danced with him" you lightly laughed and you walked away with him to the other side of the room to pick a song. 

Greg rolled his eyes and downed his pint "I'm going to the bathroom" he spoke with a hint of anger in his voice. The rest of the group sent each other a wary look. 

"Why didn't you get Y/N away from that bartender!" Molly quietly hissed at Jim. 

"I tried! Plus it's not just Y/N!" Jim retorted back and motioned for them all to look at Greg at the bar. They saw Greg chatting up the the young, giddy girl behind the bar. Mary let out a huff and rolled her eyes. 

"Is it too early to tell you all that I was right? That it would take more than this road trip to get the two of them back together?" Sherlock sent the group a smug look. Anderson looked bewildered and Molly noticed. 

"I'll tell you about it later" she whispered to him with a smile. 

You were laughing and dancing away with Rick and he song eventually came to an end and as it did you caught sight of Greg trying to chat up the bleach blonde barmaid. You felt a pang of pain spread through your body and you narrowed your eyes tightly at the pair. 

"Let me buy you a drink" you turned around to Rick who offered and you nodded with a smile. 

"I bet I could drink you under the table" you smirked. 

"Oh yeah?" Rick asked in an almost challenging tone. He took you back to the bar and poured you a drink you clinked your glasses together. You downed it and glanced over with a small smile, that smile quickly disappeared however when you saw Greg still flirting with the barmaid. 

It felt like your heart was being rolled about in shards of broken glass. Why were you feeling like this? You were the one that walked out that night. Surely you couldn't still have fe-

"Another?" Rick asked, bringing you back into the same bitter reality you were daydreaming about. 

"Sure!" You told him with a face smile and gritted your teeth together when he turned away, sending glares to the pair at the end of the bar "Why the hell not".


	7. Chapter 7

God knows how you got back to the camper van in one piece. Especially since Jim and Sherlock were the only ones to take you back. You woke up the next morning with a horrific headache, glancing to the clock next to you it was five in the morning. You let out a tired grumble and looked over to Molly who was peacefully sleeping away. 

You got up, still a little shaky on your feet, and made your way to the kitchen to make a concoction that you and Jim created years ago to save you from your hangovers. 

You grabbed a cup just as the door of Sherlock's and Jim's room opened. Sherlock stepped out with a yawn "Morning" he quietly whispered, cautious not to wake the entire van. 

"Morning, tea? Coffee?" You asked. 

"Coffee please," Sherlock asked while peering over your shoulder "What's that you're making?" 

"Regret in a cup" you muttered your reply and made Sherlock's coffee "It's coffee, a teaspoon of sugar, red bull and an aspirin. As drastic as it sounds, it's a lifesaver". 

"I'll take your word for it," he sounded a tad disgusted "Want to sit outside for a bit?"

You grabbed chances like this with both hands. Sherlock never really was a sociable person so when he wanted to spend time with you, or any of your friends for that matter, it was a heartwarming feeling. 

"What happened last night?" You asked, not entirely sure if you wanted to hear the answer. You and Sherlock sat on the foldable chairs outside the camper van and looked out to the trees surrounding you. 

"You, uh...may or may not have almost punched Dick's-sorry- Rick's nose" he quickly corrected himself. 

"Oh dear god, why?" You groaned out. 

Sherlock took a sip of his coffee "He was saying stuff about Jim and to be honest...if you weren't going to break his nose I was," he whispered out the last part.   
You couldn't help but smile, even if it felt like someone was spitting your head open with an axe. "And what is it with you and breaking people's noses?" Sherlock asked in a lighter tone, lightly giggling and you placed your head into your hands, shaking it slightly and laughing along with him. 

Your laughter died down and you let out a sigh, leaning forward a little and placing a hand on Sherlock's knee "Why don't you tell him how you feel?" 

Sherlock rolled his lips into a thin line and shook his head. You weren't going to press him or pressure him, Sherlock needed time and you would give him that with all the help and support he needed "Okay, I'm always here if you want to talk". You reassured him with a smile. 

"As am I" he simply replied and you leaned over to peck his temple "You smell like a brewery". 

"Oh fuck off" you playfully retorted and the sweet, intimate moment of friendship left as soon as it arrived. 

You both stayed quiet for a few minutes before Sherlock spoke up "You know red bull has bull semen in it?" You slowly turned your head at him and silently questioned his random outburst. 

You took a sip from your cup "I know," you said swallowing the lukewarm liquid as Sherlock drank his coffee "Wouldn't be the first time I've had semen in my mouth". 

Sherlock choked on his coffee and you could help but laugh "I'm kidding!" 

"No-no you're not!" Sherlock coughed out. 

"Yeah," you smirked "I'm not". The pair of you laughed and then watched the sunrise slowly in a comfortable silence. 

The rest of the camper van began to wake up, all except Molly and Greg. Jim and Mary joined you and Sherlock outside "How long have you two been up?" Jim asked sipping on his coffee. 

Sherlock checked his phone, it was half eight in the morning "We've been up since five, three and a half hours". 

Jim raised a brow "Five? What have you two been doing since then?" 

"Talking about semen" you and Sherlock both told him and Jim and Mary inhaled their scalding hot drinks. 

"Je-Jesus Y/N!" Mary coughed out with tears welling in her eyes "You almost killed me!" She laughed and took a gulp of tea to soothe her slightly burning throat. 

You and Sherlock shared a smirk and you stood up from the chair "I'm going to get changed," you announced and grabbed your cup that was on the ground. You steeped into the camper van and greeted Anderson and John with a smile. 

But that smile soon fell when you saw the bleach blonde barmaid from last night step out of Greg's room, giddily giggling and wearing yesterday's clothes. Greg came out from behind her with the smuggest smile on his face. 

The pain that you felt in your chest was unbearable, you were certain that your heart had stopped beating, that the loss of blood going to your head was making the room around you spin. 

But your heart was beating. And breaking. 

You bit the inside of your lip and barged passed her, banging your arm against hers, as you entered your bedroom. 

The blonde barmaid let out a disgruntled huff and bid goodbye to Greg before leaving the camper van, and the people in it, in complete shock. 

"What?" Greg asked the two men who were looking at him with gaping mouths. Greg rolled his eyes and shut his room door. 

You quickly changed and harshly slipped your shoes on, inaudibly huffing out every swear word under the sun, being careful not to wake up a still sleeping Molly. You stormed out of the room and out the van "I'm going for a walk!" You growled at the five people sitting outside who all sent concerned looks to one another. 

Mary lost sight of you and turned to John "Go after her!" She ordered and John rushed off to find you. 

Mary let out a sigh and turned to the group around her "Do you think this is the final nail in the coffin?" She asked, sounding disheartened. 

The three men around her looked to the ground and she looked out to where you might have been. She hoped that the rest of this trip would be enough to fix yours and Greg's turbulent love lives.


	8. Chapter 8

You could barely see, your tears were making your vision blurry. You don't know why you were getting so worked up over this. You shouldn't be. 

You let out a scream that burned your throat and lungs as you kicked a nearby log before falling to your knees and burying your head in your hands. John found you in the middle of the clearing loudly sobbing away, he let out a sympathetic sigh and made his way over to you "Come here, Y/N" he knelt down beside you and hugged you. 

You sobbed into John's shoulder before pulling away and wiping your tear stained cheeks "Why? Why am I feeling like this? I shouldn't be!" You raised your breaking voice at John. 

"It's alright-"

"No John! It's not alright! Why the hell would he bring her back?" You screamed "To get back at me? To prove some kind of stupid point that he's moved on and needs to rub it in my face?!" Your voice cracked again and you sniffled, perching yourself on the log. 

John had tears welling in his own eyes, it hurt him seeing you like this. He could see that you were conflicted, a war was waging between your heart and your head. "I don't know why he did it," John told you and you looked up to him "But I can tell you this, I'll have a word with him".

"No," you sighed out and wiped away your tears with your sleeves, trying to clean yourself up a bit "What's the point?"

John exasperatingly folded his arms and let out a huff "I suppose, you coming?" 

"I will in a minute," you told him "I just want some time to myself. You go back, I know the way" you groggily told him and you heard his footsteps crunching the twigs and leaves beneath him as he walked away from you. 

John made his way back to a path and decided to go to the shops and grab a paper for himself. You composed yourself and slowly made your way back to the camper van. 

Sherlock sympathetically smiled at you and followed you in, Jim was at the wheel "We ready to go?" He asked starting the ignition. 

"Yeah..." You mumbled and sat beside him, grabbing your book and taking out the bookmark at the page that read; _'When I wake in the morning I wish I was waking to her eyes'._

Your eyes flickered up to the noise of a door shutting and you met Greg's eyes with your own, your heart tightened in your chest and you returned to reading your book. 

About an hour later you were re-reading your book again with your fingers pressed against your lips, deep in focus. Your legs were stretched out and crossed at the ankles and occasionally you'd look up out of the windscreen. 

The camper van was quiet. Jim was driving, Sherlock was on the sofa catching up with some uni work, Molly and Anderson were in the room you shared with her chatting away, Greg was in his room minding his own business and Mary was taking a nap. 

"What's your favourite poem in that book?" Jim asked, breaking your focus from reading. 

You flicked it to a page and read it aloud to him "I love them all but one of my favourites has to be; _'Then he looked at the stars one night. He'd seen them countless of times before. Then he looked beside him and found her. She was the only star that mattered.'_ " You finished the poem with a smile on your face. 

Jim glanced at you before focusing on the road again "That's beautiful, almost as beautiful as the girl reading it..." he smirked and you lightly pushed his shoulder. 

"Shut up, we all know you're the most beautiful!" You teased him with the same tone he used. 

"Obviously," Jim muttered with a smile. 

You rolled your eyes and continued reading, "Put the radio on," you asked Jim who looked at you, raising a brow. You let out a sigh "Put the radio on, _please._ "

"Better" Jim uttered and pressed it on. You began moving your feet to the beat and hummed away. Jim glanced over to you and let out a snort of laughter as you began to lip sync to 'Don't you forget about me'. 

You looked up to him and let out a quiet giggle seeing him mouthing the words with you "Sing! You have a great voice" you told him and he smiled. 

"Only if you sing with me," you rolled your eyes at him and placed down your book "I mean, I know you sound like a dying cat but-" 

You jabbed his side and he let out a laugh as he flinched "You're such a dick, you've just encouraged me to sing even more". You opened your mouth but it quickly snapped shut when you heard someone frantically banging on the bathroom door. You turned your head around and quickly looked to the ground when you noticed Greg standing there banging his fist on it. 

Sherlock raised his head up from his paperwork and let out a sigh "What are you doing?" He asked, slightly irritated that he disturbed him, and from earlier this morning. 

"John's in the bathroom is he not?" Greg asked. 

Sherlock shook his head "No he's sleeping with Mary I'm sure". 

"What did you say about me?" Mary peered her head out from the small ledge that was the barricade between the bedroom and the living quarters below. 

Sherlock and Greg looked up at the same time "Not about you, about John," Sherlock told her. 

"Isn't John down there with you?" Mary rubbed her eyes while yours widened in realisation. 

"Oh god! We've left John!" 

As quick as you could blink everyone, apart from Jim who was driving like a maniac, grabbed their phones. "I've got forty missed calls..." Mary mumbled and tried to phone John again. The roads were fairly quiet so Jim would get there quicker than this morning when you left. 

"I've got twenty five," you told Jim "God I feel terrible, this is my fault! He came after me! We should have walked back together." 

"This isn't your fault," Jim reassured. 

"I can't get though to him," Mary tried again "Maybe his phone's on silent or something". 

"Or he could be dead," Sherlock muttered out, completely unfazed by the situation "Well there is a change he might-Ouch!" Mary kicked his foot. 

"Don't say that! Jim how long till we get back to Skegness?" Mary asked panicking. 

"Uh...about ten minutes" he told her. 

Your eyes caught onto a small figure in the distance "Wait! There he is!" You pointed and Mary let out a sigh of relief. The door opened and you all turned to face John, Mary wrapped his arms around him and kept kissing John's cheek. 

"I'm so, so, so, so sorry!" You apologised over and over but John happily reassured you it was alright and soon enough you were all on your way to your next destination which was Scarborough. You would be stopping there for two days and then travel to The Yorkshire dales early the morning after that. 

You didn't acknowledge Greg for the entire day and he noticed this. Jim pulled up to the campsite which was right on the beach. It was late by the time you all got there and you were all starving. 

Night started to creep in and the soft crashing waves echoed around the camper. Molly and Anderson lit and placed candles all around the chairs that were stuck in the sand on with a campfire in the middle. You were sitting perched up on your chair with your nose in your book again, glancing up to the stars before reading the next page; _'The stars are magical yes, but you...you are pure magic.'_

You smiled at the page and continued reading, you didn't even notice Greg glance up at you, smiling as you smiled. Then he began to feel guilty from this morning, he didn't even do anything! He and the barmaid walked back to the camper van together, kissed for a bit and then the both of them fell asleep from exhaustion. 

Everyone glanced to Sherlock when they saw him move "I'm going in for a shower," he announced "Does anyone need in?" A choir of 'No's' answered his question and he headed inside. 

"Ohh antiques roadshow will be on soon!" Jim cooed, checking his watch, Molly let it a snort of laughter. 

"You sound like an old woman Jim!" She teased and you looked up to Jim who was beginning to blush. 

"He only watches it because Sherlock likes it..." You told the group and they all let out a teasing 'Ooh'. 

"Shut up..." Jim muttered and rolled his eyes. You let out a small snort of laughter and shut over your book before extending your legs and letting your feet sink into the cool sand. "I watch it because it's fun to guess the price of things! Unlike you who watched 'The Night Manager' only to see Tom Hiddleston and his bare arse for like a minute!" 

"I did not!" You protested with a giggle "I watched it because Hugh Laurie was in it too!"

Jim nudged you knee with his "You're such a perv". 

"Says you who goes for a piss while I shower," you retorted back with a playful smirk. 

Mary was bent over laughing at the pair of you with tears of laughter streaming down her face "Oh I love the two of you together, you're like an old married couple". 

"We-" Jim was cut off by a high pitched scream coming from the bathroom. The group sent concerned glances to each other, your eyes connected with Jim's and yours and his simultaneously widened "Run Y/N!" He told you and you leaped out of your seat, clutching into your book as the pair of you ran on the cool sand. 

Sherlock emerged from the camper and John was the first to see him "Oh...my...God!" John let out a roar of laughter and Mary turned around to see what he was laughing at before she burst into a fit of laughter. 

Anderson, Molly and Greg also laughed hysterically seeing the bright orange, gaudy blonde man standing by the door. 

Sherlock roared out at the top of his lungs "I'm going to kill those two!"


	9. Chapter 9

"Stop laughing" Sherlock muttered out to Mary, John, Anderson, Molly and Greg who were still laughing. 

You and Jim had run off to the shore, far from Sherlock, you both knew you'd have to face him sometime but for now you both kept your distance. "Do you think we took it too far this time?" You asked. 

"Nah, it's the easy wash out stuff so next time he goes in for a shower it will wash off" Jim linked his arm with yours. 

"I'm sure he'd forgive you quicker if you shared that shower with him and helped him" you nudged his side and he bumped you with his hip, although he bumped you a little too hard and you fell into the freezing sea. 

You let out a loud scream from the shock of the cold water hitting your skin but held your book upright so it wouldn't get wet. The heads of the group turned to see where the screaming was coming from and Greg rushed out of his chair over to you. 

You were laughing your head off but the laughter died when you heard Greg screaming your name and running over to you like something out of Baywatch. You rolled your eyes and passed your book up to Jim as you used both hands to stand up "Are you alright Y/N?" Greg asked slightly breathless. 

"I'm fine" you coldly replied as you peeled away your top that was sticking to your skin. 

"But-" you cut Greg off. 

"I said I'm fine!" You snapped and he raised a brow at your tone "I don't need you rescuing me all the bloody time" you muttered out and grabbed your book from Jim before making your way back to the camper. 

Sherlock was about to open his mouth to say something but Mary held her hand up to stop him when she saw your irritable expression. She followed after you as you tossed your book onto the couch and began to peel off your soaked clothes and jump in for a shower. "Y/N?" She lightly knocked on the bathroom door "Everything alright?"

You turned on the shower and let out a sigh "Everything is just fucking fantastic Mary!" You sarcastically replied. 

Mary lightly shut her eyes and pressed her head against the door "Talk to me about it, just-" Mary was cut off when she saw Greg standing by the entrance of the camper "Us" she managed to finish her sentence. 

Mary didn't tell Greg to leave, instead he let him listen in, she thought that this might give him some perspective on how you were feeling. Unbeknownst to you, you began to talk as if he wasn't there "Why did he bring that barmaid back?" You asked as you washed the seawater off your skin. 

"I don't know..." Mary kept her eyes on Greg the whole time "Are you annoyed that he did?" 

"Course I'm fucking annoyed!" You gritted out "I felt like breaking her bloody nose!" 

Mary couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter "What is it with you and breaking noses?" 

You ignored her question and continued talking "Then he goes about acting if nothing happened..." You let out a small huff and turned off the shower. Mary waved her hand at Greg, telling him to leave and he did mere milliseconds before you opened the door. "Anyway," you walked out "How's he-man?" 

"He-man?" Mary questioned with an amused snort "You mean Sherlock?" She asked and you nodded "Well he's-"

"Pissed off!" He came into the camper van and you burst out laughing seeing his bright orange body and his beach blonde hair "LOOK AT ME!" He screamed and you continued laughing. 

"Wait a minute," you said and quickly grabbed your phone, taking a few photos of him "I'm printing those and framing them!" You smiled at your phone and glanced up to Sherlock who was looking furious, if his face wasn't so orange it would have been red with rage "Oh calm down Holmes, it's the wash off stuff. If you go in for another shower it will-" Sherlock rushed back into the bathroom and you shook your head with a smile. 

"That was a good one" Mary quietly whispered to you with a wink. 

Jim rushed into the van "It's starting!" He screamed out and tossed himself onto the couch. The rest of the group joined to watch antiques roadshow, Sherlock was still in the shower. 

"Bet it's worth five hundred" you muttered out glancing back and forth from your book to the Tv. 

"Nah it's got to be at least seven hundred" Anderson chimed in. 

Jim let out an unamused snort "It's obviously worth more than that!"

Sherlock eventually joined you all looking relieved that he was looking more like his normal self again. You continued reading until it was late and everyone had went to bed but you had stayed up to finish off your book, you'd start re-reading it in the morning. You would never stop reading it, not until the words were etched into your mind. Eventually you drifted off to sleep. 

Greg stumbled out of his room glancing around the quiet van before he froze finding you softly snoring on the couch with your book in hand. He delicately slipped it out your fingers and glanced at the page you were on. He read the poem, he knew it well. He should. He was the one that wrote it. Greg wrote them all. He used it as his voice to tell you how he felt all those years ago, it was still all true. He even had those feelings for you when he was with _her_. 

You were oblivious to this, you always thought someone else had wrote those poems and so did everyone else. Apart from Mary. She had a knack for finding out everything and confronted Greg one day. He remembers that day and hours later he kissed you for the first time. But he never told you the true origins of the book. 

Your eyes began to open but Greg was too engrossed on the page that read; _'Midnight. If there's a thing that I love almost as much as you it would be the strike of midnight. Why? Because it's a new beginning. Twenty four hours not to reprise but to start again. A new beginning. Every twenty four hours, upon the stroke of midnight. It's time blessing us to start anew.'_

Your eyes snapped open hearing the shuffling beside you "Oh...it's you," you tiredly groaned out. 

"Sorry if I woke you up," Greg apologised and you stood up. 

"Doesn't matter I should go to my bed anyway it's," you glanced over to the clock "Midnight". 

Greg nodded and then handed you back your book, your fingers colliding for a second causing you both to look at each other's eyes again. 

You both opened your mouths to say something but you couldn't. It was as if the new day had taken away your voice already and it had only just begun. You headed to your bedroom, sending him one final glance before you shut the door.


	10. Chapter 10

The seagulls acted like a flock of alarms and woke up everyone in the van. Everyone gathered outside on the beach for breakfast "What's the plans for today then?" John asked taking a sip of tea. 

"What about going to the amusements then out for dinner later? After that we can hang around on the beach?" Molly suggested. 

"That's sounds great!" Mary interjected "Tomorrow we can all have a lazy day and mess about on the beach, they have boats for hire just up the road!" 

"Yes well I'm claiming Y/N as my first mate!" Jim piped up. 

You turned to him raising a brow "Eh I think you'll find in the captain!" You playfully glared at him. 

"We can both be captains," he winked and you nodded "We're going to take down all of you". 

"That sounds like a challenge..." Sherlock trailed off "That you'll both lose..." He muttered that last part. 

You rolled your eyes and sunk your feet into the cool sand and shut over your eyes for a moment before hearing Jim muttering out "Shit my coffee!" 

You saw the spilt cup by his feet "Watch your fucking language James," you teased and Mary let out a loud snort of laughter. 

"You two crack me up," she held onto her stomach and continued to laugh. You and Jim sent each other a smile before heading into the camper to change. What you didn't realise that Greg came in right behind you and shut over the door. 

"What are you-" 

Greg quickly cut you off "I didn't sleep with her!" 

You furrowed a brow "What?"

"That barmaid...I didn't sleep with her if-"

"You honestly think I give two shits? It's your life Greg, do whatever and whoever you want," you snappishly cut him off and stormed into the room. You couldn't believe that he had the audacity to come up to you and say that. 

Yet a part of you was relieved, happy even. You quickly changed and met with him once again in the living quarters, letting out a huff under your breath you tired to walk passed him but he grabbed onto your arm "Y/N I-"

"What's going on here...?" Jim asked as he stepped into the camper van. 

"Nothing," you muttered and pulled your arm from Greg's grip "Are we heading out now?" You asked and Jim nodded. You grabbed your bag and the three of you headed out of the van. 

You walked beside Jim as all eight of you made your way to the beachfront amusements "What was happening back there?" He quietly asked as you two of you slowly walked behind everyone else. 

You shrugged your shoulders "He felt the need to tell me that he didn't sleep with that blonde barmaid" Jim's eyes widened slightly and he looked forward. 

"Well then," he uttered "How do you feel about that?" 

"Annoyed that he felt like he had to tell me thinking that I care-"

"You do care," Jim interjected. 

"He doesn't need to know that," you snappishly replied before keying out a sigh "And a part of me felt at ease that he didn't do anything with her..." You noticed the wide grin Jim was sending you and you lightly pushed his shoulder. All of you eventually made it to the arcade that was by the beach and you split up in pairs. You were with Jim, Molly and Anderson were together, Greg was with Sherlock and Mary was with John. 

"I'm going to win you that," Jim pointed to the biggest stuffed dragon you had ever seen, it was as almost as tall as Sherlock. 

You raised both your brows at him "And where the hell will I put it?"

"Well that's your problem, I'm just winning you it," Jim stuck his tongue out like a five year told and you rolled your eyes. As Jim collected tokens your eyes drifted to Greg, you were surprised to find him already looking at you. 

You cleared your throat and looked down to the ground until your head snapped back up at the sounds of buzzers sounding and lights flashing. You let out a small groan seeing Jim with a huge smile on his face as the man behind the counter handed him a giant green dragon. You took it off him, lightly laughing and shaking your head "I'm going to kill you!" 

"No you're not you love it! What are you going to call it?" Jim asked wrapping an arm around your waist. 

You looked at it for a minute and smirked "Leslie..." You told Jim and he let out a snort of laughter. "Oh look!" Your eyes lit up as you pointed to a two person dance machine in front of you "Can we?!" You asked bouncing excitedly, however Jim was more excited than you and dragged you over. You placed down Leslie and jumped onto the dance mat. 

"This looks like the one we used to dance in years ago..." Jim reminisced. 

You put in some coins and smirked "Yeah but that was like dancing about on a plastic bag, we used to slip all the time. Remember when you sprained your ankle on it?" 

"Oh god I do, we ended up in A&E that night" Jim chortled and the two of you wiggled around a bit on the light up dance tiles "I'm going to win," Jim uttered. 

"You wish," you stuck your tongue out and Jim flipped you off whilst 'Shut up and dance' began to play. As you and Jim synchronised dance moves the gang gathered around you. The music stopped and you and Jim bent over trying to catch your breaths "Of...course...it's....a...tie..." You panted out, gulping down air. 

You grabbed onto the stuffed dragon and Mary suggested all seven of you to go on the dodgems. You mouthed to Jim to bump into Sherlock and he sent you a smirk and a nod. You and Jim tormented Sherlock by constantly bumping into him, both laughing your heads off. 

"That's it!" Sherlock growled and attempted to bump you and Jim back but the dodgems stopped and you and Jim both let out a hysterical roar of laughter as Sherlock rolled his eyes and went into a huff. 

"Aww don't be mad!" You stood up and wrapped an arm around Sherlock "We can't all be dodgem champions." The corner of Sherlock's mouth rise up slightly at your teasing tone. 

The seven of you picked up dinner on the way back to the camper van, faint giggling from behind caught your attention and you glanced behind your shoulder seeing Molly and Anderson being extremely intimate with each other. You noticed the subtle signs, eyes lingering at each other for a little too long, deliberately brushing hands together and of course, the smiles they were sharing. 

You knew they really liked each other. 

You could tell because those were the same things that you shared with Greg. 

You eventually made it back to the beach and had dinner, although you kept an eye on Molly and Anderson. When Anderson offered to clear away the mess you decided to help him and followed him into the camper van, shutting the door over to keep some of the sand that was being blown off the beach out. And to have some privacy. 

"You and Molly have been yapping away all day...the rest of us have barely said two words to the pair of you." You smirked hearing Anderson cleaning his throat as you kept your eyes on the sink in front of you whist washing the dishes "You both get on like a house on fire," you handed him a plate to dry. 

"Yeah-well...she's great!" Anderson stuttered out. "Molly's also really funny and kind and pretty and-" 

You cut off Anderson's increasingly softening voice as if he was daydreaming about her right in front of you "I get it, you like her." 

You smirked when he blushed and bashfully nodded "So much so," he timidly spoke "That I asked her to be my girlfriend..."

"WHAT!?" You screamed out with a huge smile on your face "What did she say! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" You frantically slapped his chest with your soap covered rubber gloves. 

"She said yes!" He swapped your soapy hands away "She said yes!" He laughed out as you jumped up and down on the spot. 

You couldn't be happier for the pair of them, the seemed to click together like puzzle pieces. "That's wonderful, I'm so happy for the two of you." A lightbulb went off in your head and you let out a small gasp "You should take my bed!"

"What?" He asked raising a brow. 

"Yeah take my bed! Spend more time with her but I swear to God if you have sex in it-"

"We won't!" Anderson cut you off. "Thanks Y/N, you're a great friend," Anderson wrapped his arms around you and hugged you tightly. 

Greg opened the door to the camper van and walked in, he had to hold back the scowl that was starting to form on his face "What's going on?" 

You pulled away from Anderson with a smile "Nothing!" You told Greg but the way his jaw clenched indicated that he didn't quite believe you. He was jealous. Anderson excused himself leaving the pair of you in the van. Alone. _Again_. 

"It really was nothing..." You softly muttered. 

"Didn't look like nothing," Greg was on the verge of spitting out his words "Why was he hugging you?" 

You rolled your eyes and folded your arms across your chest "Because he's a friend and I did him a favour and quite frankly I have no idea why I'm discussing this with you, why do you make it sound like its a problem that he hugged me?" 

He remained silent and you let out a chortle of unamused laughter "If you really must know," you broke the silence "He told me he asked Molly to be his girlfriend and I offered him my bed so he can spend some time with her and they can be in the same room together." 

Greg let out a sigh of relief "Okay..." He managed to choke out. Before you walked into your room to grab some stuff he came up behind you, pressing himself up against your back "Take my room."

You furrowed your brows and turned around "What? No! I'm taking the couch, we have just over a week left, it won't bother me." 

Greg rolled his eyes as you moved passed him "So stubborn," he whispered out under his breath. 

"Oh you love it really," you smirked and Greg went wide eyed knowing that you heard him. You let out a sigh and sent him a small, genuine smile "Thank you for the offer, I'll keep it in mind, but for now I'll be alright on the couch." 

Greg watched as you went outside to the beach again just as a smile started to form on his face. 

The two of you might actually be reconciling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The Midnight Lovers Playlist](https://imaginedilestrade.tumblr.com/post/161630426418/the-midnight-lovers-playlist%0A)


	11. Chapter 11

About two hours later the eight of you were lazing around the bonfire John had made on the sand. You sat resting your head on Jim's side as he played with your hair "Did you bring your ukulele, Mary?" Jim asked. 

"I did," she replied before taking a drink "But I can't play it, don't have the time to practice." 

Jim smirked "Well we all know who can play it..." He sang in a knowing voice and you slowly sat up, knowing what he was getting at. 

"I'm not playing it," you slightly nudged him "I'm not that good on my own." 

"How about you and Sherlock play together? He brought his violin and you've both played with each other before." You all looked at John and he realised that is words could be taken completely out of context "Not like that! You know what I meant!" He defensively held up his hands as the rest of the group laughter with him. 

"Alright," you sighed and stood up "you up for it Holmes?" Sherlock nodded in agreement and you both grabbed the instruments from the camper van before rejoining the group on the beach. 

You settled down on a seat while Sherlock stood beside you, gently re-tuning his violin. You strummed a few notes before you both played _['Here comes the sun'](https://open.spotify.com/track/45yEy5WJywhJ3sDI28ajTm)_ as the wood gently crackled and harmonised with you both.

As you sang you looked up to Greg with a small smile on your face. There was something about the way the orange glow of the fire reflected off of Greg's face, it was enough to make your heart stop. The bright Amber flakes glowed and drifted around him making him almost ethereal. 

You lightly strummed the last few notes and lowered the ukulele on to your lap, trying to compose the once dormant feelings that were now beginning to bubble inside you. "Why don't we play truth or dare?" Molly suggested and everyone, aside from Sherlock who was slightly reluctant about it, agreed. 

"Alright who's first?" She asked and glanced around the group "John! We'll start with you," Molly smiled at him "Truth or dare?" 

"Uh...truth..." He requested, sounding a tad unsure. 

Molly pondered over a question for a moment "Oh! Is it true you and Sherlock were put in a prison cell for a night because the pair of you were hammered?" 

John and Sherlock simultaneously let out a groan and the blonde medical student put his head in his hands, full of shame "Yes..." He uttered out "Moving on, Y/N, truth or dare?" 

John's dares were fairly harmless so you decided to go for dare. He thought for a moment and smirked "Alright, I dare you to kiss the most attractive person here..." 

You narrowed your eyes at John and you noticed out of the corner of your eyes Greg shifting on his seat. "Okay," you muttered and stood up, walking into the camper and grabbing a mirror before returning outside and kissing it in front of everyone. "There you go," you cockily smirked "I just kissed the most attractive person here." You stuck your tongue out and Jim began to slow clap. 

"I don't know if I should be offended or impressed?" He said you as you sat down again. 

After another half hour of silly truths are petty dares, the group soon went into the camper one by one whilst you stayed out by the fire for a little while longer. Greg was walking from his room to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He turned to the couch where he assumed you'd be but you weren't there. 

He stepped outside and saw you perched up on a chair with your nose in the book he wrote for you. "Aren't you tired?" He asked and sat next to you. 

"Not really, I've stayed up later than-"

"No," he cut you off "I mean aren't you tired of that book?" 

You blinked once, then twice at his absurd question "Never!" You told him and softly shut it over your index finger as you used it as a temporary bookmark. 

Greg softly chucked and shook his head "I got you that years ago and I don't think I've ever seen you without it."

"That's because it's important to me..." You softly uttered and traced your free hand over the cover. You looked up to the sky and let out a sigh, Greg almost knew what you were thinking before you said it. 

"I know you do," he blurted out and your head snapped around to him. 

"What?" 

Greg cleared his throat and pointed up to the sky "You were about to say something about the stars and wanting to float around beside them."

"H-how did you know that?" You chuckled "Am I _that_ predictable?". 

Greg shrugged "You always say something along those lines. I know how much you love them." 

You smiled and lightly nodded before opening your book again to the page that read _'She would look up to the sky, longing to be out of this world. When I was with her, I already was.'_

Your eyes connected with Greg's once more and your heart skipped a beat. You quickly shut the book and stood up "I'm going to get some sleep," you rushed into the van and left Greg to put out the fire. You let out a deep sigh and tossed yourself on the sofa. Greg came in and asked you, again, if you wanted his bed. You politely refused and drifted off to sleep. 

When you woke up you let it a startled yelp seeing Jim's face directly in front of yours "Why the fuck would you do that?!" You snapped. 

"What are you doing out here?" Jim asked, completely ignoring your question. 

"I was sleeping..." You groaned and rubbed your eyes. Jim was about to press you for more answers but the whole camper began to wake up. 

"What's happening?" Mary asked, peering over the ledge above. 

"Will you all shut up?" Sherlock groaned, stepping out of his room wearing nothing but a bed sheet. 

You raised your brows at his attire and opened your mouth to speak but Greg stepped out of the room and spoke up first "What's happening out here? You're all making such a racket!" 

You slammed your head back onto the pillow "I'm sleeping here what's the problem with that?!" 

"I just want to know why," Jim calmly asked "Where's-oohhhhh..." He trailed off with a knowing smile. 

"The pair of them are a couple now so-" 

Mary cut you off with clapping hands and a delighted squeal "Really?! That's adorable!" 

"Yeah, but don't make a fuss." You sat up on the couch allowing Jim to plop himself down next to you. 

"You should have taken my bed," Jim offered and you shook your head at his offer. 

"It's okay," you smiled "I told Greg last night and he offered his bed but what's the point? I don't mind sleeping here it's just for a week."

Your ears caught on to Sherlock humming and holding his chin in his hand while tapping his lips "Interesting that you told Greg..." He mused. You narrowed your eyes tightly at him and your deadly glare was enough to drive him back into his room. 

Minutes later Molly and Anderson appeared from the room they were now sharing and everyone grinned at them. "Uhh...morning..." Anderson bashfully smiled. 

"Morning...." Mary drawled out almost teasingly "Shall we all get organised for breakfast?" 

After breakfast you all walked down the beach to the small hut that hired out pedal boats and row boats. Jim dragged you to one he had picked and you looked at him, shaking your head "I knew you'd pick this one!" Jim couldn't contain his smile as he climbed onto the large, white, plastic swan. He helped you in and you both started pedalling in the sea, the sound of churning water could be heard under your feet. 

"Who do we get first _captain_ Moriarty?" You teased and Jim let out a snort of amused laughter. 

"Anyone but Mary," Jim told you motioning his head over to the pedal boat containing Mary and Molly "You know she'll kill us if we soak her with water." 

You agreed with him and began pedalling towards Sherlock and Greg "Sherlock's going to be so pissed if we get his hair wet..." You paused for a moment to laugh "Aim for him first." 

You both frantically pedalled over to the boat containing Greg and Sherlock with devilish grins on your faces. Greg looked over and his eyes widened "Uh oh..." The two let out a scream as your pedal boat collided with theirs causing a wave of water to soak the two men. Greg glanced down at his soaked shorts and shoes before looking up to you with a small smirk "That's it..." He scooped up a handful of water and threw it over you and Jim. 

"Greg!" You screamed as the cold water came into contact with your skin. You reached across to try and retaliate but ended up falling into the freezing sea. 

"Y/N!" Everyone screamed as you broke the surface with your head, gulping down air as the cold water began to press against your chest, making it increasingly harder to breathe. But soon your felt yourself sinking and panicking as the water crushed your body. 

But seconds later you felt yourself floating to the surface again, breaking through the water again, allowing air back into your lungs. That's when you realised there was a pair of arms around you helping to keep you afloat. "It's alright," you heard "I've got you." 

Your eyes opened properly, your vision slightly blurred from the water clinging to your eyelashes. "G-Greg?" You chattered out his name as the cool sea breeze mixed with the water in your hair and skin, making you cold. 

"Yeah," he smiled and kept you afloat. He looked up to a worried Sherlock and Jim "I'll swim Y/N back to shore."

"Will we come back with you?" Jim asked. 

"N-no," you chatted out with a small smile "Have a few more hours of fun." 

"Right," Greg captured your attention "Just keep kicking your legs and we'll get back to the beach and dried off." You did as he asked and he let out a pained groan as soon as your foot accidentally came into contact with his shin "OW!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. 

"Sorry!" You gasped but Greg reassured it was alright with a smile. 

"It's okay, let's just keep swimming..." He trailed off and you tightened your grip on him slightly feeling a current whirl past, worried that you'd drift away from him. Greg could see how scared you were getting and before he knew what he was doing he pressed a long kiss to your temple "Don't worry," he softly spoke "I've got you, always."


	12. Chapter 12

You sat on the edge of the couch drying off your hair while Greg was in for his shower. He managed to get the both of you back to shore and as soon as you arrived back at the camper he put on a warm shower for you and grabbed you fresh clothes, leaving them in the bathroom for you. Once you came out he went in. 

When the bathroom door opened your head turned to where the noise came from and instantly felt your throat close up and your cheeks burn seeing Greg in nothing but a towel. You and Greg had both seen each other in a lot less clothing but it still took your breath away. He was perfect. 

"I was...uh..." You stuttered out and looked away from his distracting, muscular, glistening torso "I was thinking when you're...uh when you're ready we could head down to the amusements again or the pub or something..?" You trailed off, your voice slightly trembling. 

"Yeah," Greg nodded with a smile "You should phone the others and let them know so they can pedal back to shore." 

"Oh," you muttered out "I was thinking...just the two of us?" Greg went wide eyed, not entirely sure if he heard you right "But if you don't want-"

"No!" Greg loudly cut you off, his sudden burst of enthusiasm making you jump "No that's great just me and you. I'd like that." You smiled at him as he glanced around "I'll get changed."

Once Greg was ready you both headed for the amusements "How are you enjoying the holiday so far?" He asked. 

"I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would," you admitted "It's good to get a break from university work. How are you enjoying it?" You asked just as you stepped into the arcade filled with bright lights and loud noises, kids running around with their arms filled with tickets and stuffed toys. 

"Yeah it's great!" He smiled "I'm glad you came, it's good to see you again." 

You felt your stomach knot and your heart flutter at the same time inside you at his words. As much as you hated to admit it, you did miss Greg dearly, he was and still is your best friend. You could kick yourself until the end of time for blowing up so dramatically that night. "I'm just as glad. I missed you," you let out a sigh and stood by a claw machine with him, pressing the back of your head to the glass. "I've been so lost for the past few months without everyone...without you."

Greg went wide eyed at your confession, without thinking he reached for your hand and tightly held onto it with a smile "I'm always going to be here for you Y/N, I'd never leave you on your own." 

You gazed into Greg eyes and it felt like they were pulling you closer to him. You snapped out of your trance and looked down to the stuffed animals in the claw machine "How cute is that one!" You squealed and let go of his hand to point to a penguin in the corner of the machine. 

Greg looked between you and the stuffed penguin "Do-do you want it?" He asked, already inserting coins into the machine. 

You smiled and shook your head "Greg, everyone knows those machines are a con. You'll never win!"

"Fine why don't we make a bet?" He asked with a challenging tone. You encouraged him to keep talking "If I win you that penguin you take my bed for the rest of the trip, I feel bad that you're on the couch."

"And if you lose? Which you will..." You teased. 

Greg shrugged "Then you get to stay on the couch, if you want to that is...my bed is always on offer, and you can tell me that you were right for the rest of our lives. Deal?" 

You thought about it for a moment, pursing your lips before reaching out your hand for Greg to shake it "Deal." 

With a determined smile Greg faced the machine. He had four tries to try and win you the penguin. You watched him as the claw dropped it the first time and the second time. On the third try he was close to getting it but it fell just before it reached the gap. You and Greg both let out a string of dramatic 'Oooohhh's'

"This time I _will_ get it" Greg told you and you admired his determination, you admired it so much that you had to bite down on your bottom lip to stop you from smiling so much. 

Lights flashed around on the machine and you let out a long sigh seeing Greg standing there with a penguin in his hands "You were saying?" He asked with a cocky grin. 

"Fine!" You groaned "You win!" He handed you the penguin and you thanked him. "I'm going to have to put all these stuffed toys I'm getting into storage."

Greg laughed "What did you do with that dragon Jim won you?"

"It's under Anderson's bed," you told him and began walking around the arcade again "If he falls on the floor he's going to get the fright of his life." 

You smiled hearing Greg burst into a fit of laughter. A sense of deja vu came over you. You and Greg were always inseparable. Where there was one the other was always nearby. "Do you want to grab some dinner? I'm sure the others will get something for themselves?" You asked and Greg agreed. 

You sat the penguin next to you in a booth as Greg sat at the opposite side "What are you going to call it?" He asked, glancing up from the menu he was reading. 

"I think I'll call him PI Lestrade," you softly giggled. 

"PI?" Greg questioned "What does that stand for?" 

"Penguin inspector of course! Since you're studying to be a detective inspector although I don't know why it's just like a glorified copper isn't it?" You teased. 

Greg rolled his eyes "No it isn't!" He whined "How many times do I have to tell you?" You let out a loud laugh just before the waiter took your order. 

"I missed hanging out with you. Just you..." You confessed and lightly swung your legs under the table, gently brushing them against the side of Greg's legs. It was a soothing motion and Greg didn't seem to mind. 

"I've missed this too," Greg bashfully smiled "What happened to us?" He asked with a whisper and your gaze fell from him to the table. 

"I can barely remember," you sadly smiled but before Greg could say another word your dinner arrived. "Oh my god," you groaned "Yours looks amazing!" 

Greg looked up at you just as he pulled the fork that was full of food out his mouth. He picked up some more and extended the fork to your face and you leaned forward taking the food off it with your teeth as he held the fork. "Mhmm that's really good! Here," you did the same and held your fork out "Try mine!" 

Both you and Greg enjoyed the others food so much you ended up splitting both portions in half and sharing. After dinner Greg got you both ice cream before you slowly walked back with him to the camper van. 

"Y-you've got a bit..." He stuttered out and you looked up to him with confused eyes "You've got a bit right there," he pointed to your nose and laughed. 

You brought your hand up to your face and felt your nose but nothing was there "No I do-Greg!" You screamed as he pressed his ice cream to your nose. He darted away from you and you ran after him with every intention to get him back. When you caught up with him you managed to squish your ice cream to the side of his face, mouth and chin. He let out a loud scream as picked you up from behind, spinning you and the penguin you were still holding about on the spot. 

"I have to get a photo!" You giggled and Greg gently put you down "I have the perfect caption..." You sinisterly smiled and grabbed your phone pressing your cheek against Greg's to get him in the photo. 

"What are you going to put as the caption?" Greg asked. 

"Just you wait...I'm tagging you in it."

Greg's phone dinged with the notification and he looked at the photo you put up before reading the caption and letting out a breathy chuckle "Really? You really put 'Greg and I love sticky white stuff all over our faces?'" 

You burst into a fit of giggles and continued walking back to the camper, wiping off some of the ice cream that started to melt on your faces. "They aren't back yet," Greg glanced around the camper for signs of life. 

Your phone buzzed and you checked your texts "It's from Jim," you called out to Greg "They went out for dinner, they'll be back in about an hour." 

"Do you want to move your stuff into my room since I won the bet?" Greg asked with a proud smirk, one that made you roll your eyes. 

"Fineeeee," you drawled out "You were right and I was wrong!"

"Can I get that in writing?" He teased and you narrowed your eyes tightly at him. 

"Don't make me change my mind!" Greg helped you into his room with your stuff "Uh what the hell?!" You shrieked "You have the biggest room and the biggest bed?!" You walked in and your mouth gaped open "If I knew you had a double bed I would have taken this ages ago!" You laughed. 

"Well I did offer!" Greg placed your things down "You want to watch some TV while we wait for them?" 

You nodded with a smile "Sure, I'd love to!" You settled down with him on the sofa, lying with your back against his chest. It felt incredibly natural. You didn't feel Greg tense slightly or hear his breath hitch but he managed to place his arms against yours, lightly holding you in place as you sat in comfortable silence. 

Both of you with a smile on your faces.


	13. Chapter 13

"Ooohh this looks cosy!" Jim teased as he stepped into the camper. Greg let you go and you both sat up straight. 

"Hey Jim, how was dinner?" You smiled. 

"Good the guys are going to head to the pub if you want to go too, Greg," Jim told him and Greg nodded and went to grab his jacket. 

"Are you going with them?" You asked as Jim settled down on the couch. 

Jim shook his head "Nope," he replied popping the 'p' "I'd never pass up the opportunity to watch Grease with you, Molly and Mary." You smirked and shook your head "Everything...alright?"'he asked raising a suspicious brow. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well I hope I wasn't disturbing the two of you..." he deviously smirked. You tossed a pillow at him and he let out a giggle. The rest entered the camper and you walked into Greg's room where he was fiddling about with something. 

You narrowed your eyes as he put something in his jacket, to you it looked like a slip of paper "You okay?" You called out and he jumped "Sorry," you lightly laughed "Didn't mean to scare you. I was just coming in to to put my pyjamas on."

"Oh alright I'll just...I'll leave you too it!" He set you a thin lipped smile. You furrowed your brow and shut the door over before he could leave "What are you doing?" 

"Greg," you softly spoke with sympathetic eyes "If this is too much-"

"No!" He yelled, taking you aback with his abrupt tone "No it's not...for me any way. If it's too much for you after everything I'll understand."

You shook your head "No I'm okay with this, to be honest the couch is pretty uncomfortable." You booth stood in silence for a moment before you re-opened the door for him "Have fun with the guys."

"Thanks, enjoy Grease!" He left you in the room trying to collect and calm your thoughts. You quickly changed and returned to the living room, meeting with Molly, Mary and Jim who had all changed too and grabbed a big bowl of popcorn and put in the DVD. 

"If you two start singing I'm leaving..." Mary warned both you and Jim with a small smile. 

"Sorry Mary but Jim is the Danny to my Sandy. If we don't sing we'll die!" You dramatised. 

"Yeah," Mary laughed "If you two sing Molly and I will die!" The van erupted with laughter but you all stopped when the film started. 

A little while later the film was ending just as the boys returned from the pub "Yes!" You clapped your hands together "We can all sing together!" 

"I don't think so," Sherlock rolled his eyes and sat down. 

"Oh please!" You whined "You know I love singing _'You're the one that I want!'_ it's a classic Sherlock!" 

Sherlock uttered out a irritated 'Fine' and with a delighted screech you turned up the TV and the entire camper burst with song. Needless to say your eyes would constantly drift to Greg throughout the song. It surprised you when you saw him looking back. 

When the film ended you went to bed "Goodnight everyone!" You waved with a smile and were about to step into the room you were now sharing with Greg but stopped when John questioned you. 

"I thought you were sleeping on the couch Y/N?" 

You suddenly felt all eyes, apart from Greg's because he was in the bathroom, on you. "Uh yeah but Greg...he won a bet earlier so I'm bunking with him...night guys!" The nerves in your voice made the corners of Molly, Jim's and Mary's mouth twitch upwards. 

You dived into the bed and grabbed your book and grabbed your phone, placing on your earphones and blasting music through them as you read. Your eyes glanced up to Greg as he walked in and shut the door over. 

Your gaze flickered between him and the book as he began to strip off and remain in nothing but his boxers. "You don't mind do you?" He asked before getting in the bed. 

You shook your head, you had shared a bed with him when he was wearing nothing at all. Even before you started dating him you shared a bed with him and we're fine with him wearing nothing but boxers. He was always so soothingly warm. 

You pulled out your earphones and handed your phone to Greg who put it on the bedside cabinet. You were sandwiched between him and a wall and you could feel your fingers start to tremble with nerves. He reached for the cord to shut the binds but you reached your hand up, softly stopping him. He looked at you with a furrowed brow "Leave them open a little longer if that's okay," you whispered "It's such a clear night and you can see thousands of stars." 

Greg smiled and removed his hand from the cord "Okay." 

He let out a deep sigh and sunk into the mattress as you finished off the page you were reading _'The stars are magical yes, but you...you are pure magic.'_ You gave Greg a sideward glance, he was staring up at the sky. A smile tugged on your lips as you scooted over a bit "Look at my bookmark," you showed him and he tore his eyes away from the sky "It's a photo of all of us."

"Oh my god look how young we all are!" Greg took the photo from your fingers "Jim hasn't changed much."

"No, he's always had a baby face, even when I first met him."

Greg turned back to you and slipped the photo between the pages you were holding open before taking your book from you and placing it where your phone sat on the bedside cabinet. You settled in the bed and titled your head back to stargaze "I could look at them forever..." you breathed out. 

You felt Greg shift beside you, extending his arm out across the top of your head, a silent indication for you to put your head on his arm. You did and he wrapped a hand around your shoulder "How many can you count?" You asked. 

"Count?" Greg asked "You want me to count them?" He lightly laughed and you couldn't help but giggle. 

"Try!" You whispered. 

"Okay..." Greg extended a finger and quietly counted "One...two...three..."

"Seven...fourteen...thirty six..." you tried to put him off and he let out a low growl, playfully jabbing your side. 

"You bugger! You wanted me to count them! Stop putting me off!"

"Shh!" You laughed out "You'll wake everyone up!" You lightly pushed him and he fell out the bed "Greg!" You gasped before the two of you laughed even harder than before, tears of joy streaming down both your faces. 

"What's going on?" Sherlock tiredly grumbled and opened the door to your bedroom. 

"S-sorry Sherlock!" You giggled and wiped away the tears "We'll calm down!" Sherlock glared at the two of you before letting out an exasperated huff as he closed he door. 

You looked at Greg and pulled amused faces "Ohh Sherlock isn't happy with us!" Greg got back into the bed and you had to put a hand over your mouth to stop yourself laughing any louder. 

You took in a deep breath and calmed down, returning your attention back to the stars while Greg looked at you as you drifted off to sleep. He reached up and closed the blinds, cautious not to disturb you. He pressed a kiss to your forehead "Sweet dreams, Y/N"


	14. Chapter 14

You hadn't even opened your eyes but you could already hear the soft sounds of a heart beating. 

Your eyes slowly fluttered open and you were staring at skin, your face facing Greg's back with your arm wrapped around his waist and your hand...being held by his? 

You pulled your face back slightly, trying to disturb Greg as little as possible. When he let out a sleepy groan and turned to lie on his back you froze, thinking that you woke him, but he was still asleep. You couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and looked up to the blinds as sunlight began to pour through the gaps. You felt yourself smiling feeling a sense of deja vu. You'd been in this sort of situation before with Greg. 

Your thoughts were clouded by the fact you were bursting for the toilet, however you were still very much in between the wall and Greg. Moving as slowly as possible you manoeuvred yourself over his figure, carefully and slowly placing a leg over and then an arm before-

"Oop!" 

The van jolted and you only noticed then that you were moving. Then you realised that you were lying on top of Greg, your face resting against his nose and your forehead slightly stinging from where it bumped off of his nose.

You had never moved so fast in your life to get off him "I'm sorry!" You half whispered half yelled "I was just trying to go to the bathroom without waking you! I didn't-"

"Y/N!" Greg said your name with a smile "Its fine, it was just an accident. I'll think nothing of it."

You softly shut your eyes, nodding and breathing out a huff of air that you had been holding between your lungs and throat. You rushed out of the room and shut the door opened, the glare from the sunlight made you squint your eyes "Afternoon..." Mary trailed off with a devilish smirk "Sleep well?" 

"What time is it?" You ignored her question and brought your arm up to shield your eyes from the sun. 

"It's three in the afternoon," Jim told you and you glanced around seeing the camper moving through countryside, the coast was now miles away. 

"Why didn't you wake us?" You asked in a gruff tone. 

The people in the caper sent each other a glare before Molly spoke on behalf of everyone "We did but you were both zonked right out so we left you."

You slowly nodded and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door over and pressing your back to it and rubbing your hands over your tired face. 

When you finally emerged you saw Greg standing and cracking a joke with Anderson. Greg turned to you and you softly smiled "I'm just going to get changed."

"Alright," he nodded "I'm heading in for a shower," you silently nodded and walked into the room and changed before making the bed and lying down on top of it again, your legs dangling off the end. The bed still had heat residing in it and it was incredibly comfortable. 

You shut over your eyes and a few minutes later the door open and shut. 

"Ready already?" Greg asked. 

"Yup," you replied popping the 'p' "You want me to go so you can get changed?" 

"No..."

You felt your heart stop and a weight sinking down on your chest. Did he really just say that? 

You slowly opened your eyes but they snapped open when you saw him practically hovering over you and his legs nestled between both of yours "Greg...?" You softly whispered out, almost whimpering. He moved forward and leaned down, supporting himself with his hands on the bed, either side of your face. 

The water droplets that collected at the very tips of his hair dropped down onto the sheets and your face. You looked at him with widening eyes as your hand involuntary moved to the middle of his chest. His skin sent goosebumps down your arm that eventually spread all over your body "You know..." Greg began and moved his face closer to yours "technically we didn't break up..."

Your eyelids ferociously blinked as you opened your mouth to speak but nothing would come out. Your inhaled a large, shuddering breath and finally found your voice "Greg...you're soaking wet!" 

"I'm sure I'm not the only one," he teased with a smirk and you suddenly felt your face burn. He slowly moved his face forward "I missed you Y/N."

"I missed you too..." you breathed out before he gently pressed a kiss to your lips and pulled back again. You gazed up at him with a smile forming on your face before passionately crashing your lips against his again. You couldn't help but let out a moan feeling his lips against yours again, you didn't realise how much you missed the feeling until now. Greg moved forward, pushing you back into the bed fully and lay on top of you as he placed a hand on the back of your neck keeping you firmly in place so your lips would never leave his. 

He playfully bit your bottom lip and you yelped in delight before pulling away with a shocked gasp "They'll hear us." 

"No they won't..." great reassured before fringing his lips against your own causing you both to met out a strained moan. 

"Are you sure?" You whispered against his lips. 

Greg pulled back with a smile "Course I'm sure, they won't hear because your dreaming."

You woke up with a gasp. You could feel your heart pounding against your ribcage as you're forehead gathered droplets of sweat. "Good god...it's okay, it's just a dream" you spoke to yourself and sat upright, placing your head into your hands. 

You peeled your hands away from your face and glanced to the floor. You squinted your eyes slightly as they locked onto what looked like a piece of paper. You were about to reach and grab it before the door opened and you jumped seeing Greg there "Hey you alright?" He asked and walked over. 

You couldn't speak so simply nodded your head before standing up and heading out of the room and shutting the door over behind you. As you did you bumped into Jim who discretely dragged you into his room and pushed you on the bed "You've got some explaining to do Y/N."

"What are you talking about?"

"Uh you and Greg!" He half whispered half shouted "You shared a bed with him last night?! And spent the day with him? Are you two-"

"No!" You snappishly cut him off "No we aren't we're just fr-" you let out a small sigh "Friends, Greg and I are just friends now Jim."

Jim's expression softened when he saw your eyes well with tears. He kneeled down in front of you and you leaned forward to put your forehead on his shoulder. Jim wrapped his arms around you and soothingly stroked your back "He'd take you back...you do know that don't you?" 

You didn't answer him, instead let him hold you for a little longer "I'm so torn inside...what if something happens again? I've just started to get him back! What if-"

"Y/N you're never going to live a happy life if you're always contemplating 'What ifs'" you leaned up and Jim cupped your face "You should talk to him. When you're ready of course."

"I hate it when you're right," you sighed "Are we almost at the campsite?"

"Yeah should be there in twenty minutes or so. Mary's started on dinner, we were going to have a barbecue when we reach the forest but it's a bit rainy." Jim stood up and held out his hand which you happily took. He lead you back through to the living space just as John's was pulling up to the campsite. 

He parked and you helped Mary with finishing off the dinner before all of you gathered at the dinner table. You sat across from Greg who was constantly bumping knees with yours. Each time he did his smile somehow seemed to grow wider. The rain stopped and after dinner you all went outside to sit and enjoy the setting sun that was shining though the leaves of the trees. Something falling in the camper make you all turn around. 

"What was that?" Anderson asked. 

"Dunno..." uttered John. 

You let out a sigh and stood up "It's probably something that's fallen off the kitchen counter," you walked over and opened the door, screaming seeing what was inside before slamming it over again "Christ! There's a squirrel in there!" You squealed out "Get it Sherlock!"

"Why me?!" Sherlock shrieked. 

"You're the tallest!" You argued. 

"What if it chews my face off or something?!"

Jim smirked "All the more reason for you to go in..." Sherlock let it a growl under his breath at Jim's remark. 

"Don't be such a scaredy cat Sherlock!" Mary urged him in "Just get it out."

With a gruff Sherlock braved what resided in the camper van. There was a series of screams and bumps as you all anxiously waited outside. Everyone jumped when the door opened revealing Sherlock who looked exhausted and petrified "Got it out."

"My hero..." Jim's voice was laced with sarcasm but you saw the glint of happiness in Sherlocks eyes when he said that. You held back a smile and went into the camper "Where you going?" Jim asked. 

"Going to put my pyjamas on now that the camper is actually safe to go into..." you replied and walked to your room shutting the door behind you. That's when your eyes locked on to that piece of paper again that you saw earlier. You bent down and picked it up. 

Your stomach sank reading the blocks of writing with gaps between each paragraph while your eyes began to well with tears realising it was Greg's handwriting. 

"He wrote them..."


	15. Chapter 15

You felt you had been living some sort of lie for the past few years. The man you were friends with, then fell for, then loved... ~~and still loved~~ ; had deceived you in such a beautiful way. 

"Oh my god..." you breathed out with a small squeak as the tears rolled down your face. The poems on the sheet of paper you were holding became blurry. You didn't need to read them anyway you knew them off by heart. You sat down on the bed and quietly broke down, clutching the pieces of paper in your hands, they crumpled ever so slightly. 

"Y/N?"

Molly. 

"Y-yeah?" You croaked out and wiped away your tears "I'll be out in a minute!" 

"Oh no it's alright! It's starting to rain again so we're coming in. I was just going to ask what film do you want to watch? We're having a vote it's between 'The Goonies' or 'The Breakfast Club'. What gets your vote?"

"Uh..." you could barely think "The Goonies I guess."

You could hear Molly giggling on the other side "Funny...Greg was the only other one to pick it!" You shut your eyes and more tears fell out. You could hear Molly walk away and you fell back onto the bed with a small thud. You were so utterly confused, conflicted, annoyed that he had kept this from you for so many years. You felt like you didn't know half of him, that he kept himself a secret from you. 

You saw your book on the bedside cabinet and picked it up, it wasn't heavy but the emotional turmoil it was making you go through felt like you were holding a boulder in your hands. You opened it to the page that read; _'Intimacy through words can do more damage than skin colliding with skin.'_

How true that statement was now. 

"Y/N?" Mary's voice broke you from your thoughts "We're putting the film on now!" 

You hid the pieces of paper you had found in your book and quickly stood, making yourself a little dizzy "I'm coming," you croaked out and opened the door. You sat down on the chair beside Molly and Anderson, you were facing Sherlock, Mary and John while Greg sat at the front with Jim. 

"I thought you were changing?" Jim asked. 

You blinked and looked down at your clothes, he was right. You were going to change but the shock of finding out the man in front of you had wrote the book you adored had made you completely forget why you went into the bedroom in the first place. "Oh...I changed my mind. Press play." You softly demanded, trying to move on from the subject. You glanced up to Sherlock who was narrowing his eyes at you. You shrugged as if to say 'What?' And he whipped out his phone. 

Your phone hummed as it vibrated it your pocket and you read the text that he sent _'What's the matter with you?'_

_**'Nothing.'** _

_'You're a terrible liar Y/N...'_

You glared at him over your phone and he put his phone down on his lap, not wanting to aggravate you more. You let out a sigh and looked up to the TV although you weren't really paying attention, your mind was elsewhere. 

You didn't even realise a tear had slipped out of the corner of your eye until it landed on top of your hand. The voices quietly chatting around you were nothing but static. 

That was until you heard a name that brought back a tsunami of unwanted memories. 

"Sally always loved orchids..." Greg trailed off, adding in his input to a conversation everyone-apart from you-was having. 

"Sally..." you breathed out and squeezed your eyes shut, tears flowing freely down your cheeks now. At this point Sherlock was the only one that noticed and stood up, disturbing everyone. You disturbed them even more when you uttered the woman's name again but this time louder, with a dry, humourless laugh. 

"Y/N...?" Sherlock called your name and reached out his hand to place on your shoulder but your eyes snapped open and you pulled away. 

You stood up and looked down to Greg "It always was her wasn't it, Greg. She was the one you always talked about, she was the first for _everything!_ " you screamed and Jim turned off the TV. 

"Y/N what's wrong?" Jim asked, a sense of panic was overwhelming him. 

"Sally! It's always fucking Sally isn't it?! She was the reason I walked out that night! I remember now! You always bloody banged on about her! You'd always talk about her when you were with me, even before we got together! You always compared me to her Greg and even now she's still in your thoughts! Why is that? Is it because she always loved orchids that are so fucking perfect and I love windflowers that have no continuity and are imperfect in every way!" You screamed out in one breath and you were almost certain you were on the verge of fainting from the lack of oxygen reaching your brain. 

"Y/N calm down..." Jim placed both hands on you, this time you allowed someone to touch you "Whatever it is we can all sit down and talk about it."

"Sit down and talk about it?!" You repeated his ludicrous words "What is there to talk about Jim? I know everything!" You screamed and his-as well as everyone else faces- drained in colour. They each sent each other worrying glances apart from Greg, who's eyes were firmly on you. "I know..." you looked at Greg dead in the eye with tears streaming down your hot, red cheeks. 

"Y/N," Sherlock began with a sad sigh "We didn't mean to keep this from either of you but we thought this trip would-"

"Trip?" You snapped your head around to Sherlock who felt like a deer in the headlights "What are you talking about? I was talking about the poetry book!" You told him with a watery, wobbly voice. The camper stayed silent for a moment "Sherlock," your voice was ice cold "What do you mean by 'trip'?" 

Silence again. 

"Tell me!" You snapped with tears dripping off your face at almost every point. "Sherlock as my dear friend, the least you can do is tell me what you meant by 'trip'." Your voice was a bit clearer and a tad softer. 

Sherlock placed his head in his hands and let out a sigh "We all arranged this trip to try and get you and Greg together. You and Greg obviously didn't know about it and we eventually filled Anderson in with our plan after a day or two after his arrival." 

You turned your head away from Sherlock to look at Jim "You knew about this?" You asked him with your voice not raising above a whisper "I can't believe you kept this from me!" You slapped away his hands from your arms "You're my best friend! My longest friend! I consider you as my brother and yet you went behind my back to go through with this plan?" You asked, blubbering on the spot. 

Jim felt nothing but pain and guilt, he couldn't even look at you in the eye. His lack of words said everything you need to hear. 

You shook your head and wiped away your tears with your now slightly soggy sleeve "After all these years I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other," you sobbed out and Jim tried to hold you again but you stepped back "Don't touch me!" You screamed, holding your hands up defensively. Jim felt his heart shatter there and then. 

"I can't believe you'd do this to us...to Y/N..." your eyes locked onto Greg who had now opened his mouth to speak. 

"Oh you have a nerve Greg!" You snapped "I know you wrote my book!" You wiped away more tears, everyone-apart from Mary- looked at Greg with a shocked expression. "Has everyone in this fucking tin can lied to me?!" 

The van fell into silence "Why would you do that to me?" You whispered, mainly to Greg "Why didn't you tell me! I feel like I don't even know you anymore, Greg! Any of you!" 

The living quarters filled with your soft sobs, tears (not only from you but from everyone else as well, even Sherlock shed a few) and breathing. "I can't be here anymore." Your announcement made everyone go wide eyed. You stormed out the front door, being greeted by rain as everyone called your name in an attempt to stop you leaving. Where would you go? You were in the middle of a forest. 

That was the least of your concerns now as you marched off further from the van. 

"Greg, we're all so sorry," Mary's voice trembled slightly "But you can't let Y/N walk away this time. You have to go and get her! Bring her back."

Greg knew he had to find you. He wasn't going to let history repeat itself.


	16. Chapter 16

The dense, dark forest mixed with your blurred vision made you lose sight of the van almost instantly. 

Not like you cared. 

You wanted to get away as far as you could from that van and the people in it. The people that you once thought you knew. You couldn't believe they went behind your back to do such a thing, you especially couldn't believe that Jim went through with it...and you were more disappointed that he didn't tell you. 

Your feet were getting soaked from the waterlogged ground and your clothes were sticking to your skin. You didn't even pick up a jacket. 

"Y/N!" You heard your name being called between trees and through the rain smashing off the leaves. You continued walking, not bothering to turn around and face whoever it was. You had an incline that it was Greg which only made you more determined to walk further away. It was pitch black, the darkness made the flowers look like they were dying. 

The footsteps that were following you got louder and faster, they were running towards you. You felt a hand wrap around your wrist, you could tell it was Greg's, and you turned to face him only to let out a scream and slip right out of his grasp as you slipped and fell to the bottom of the ravine you were standing alongside of. 

"Y/N!" Greg screamed and jumped in to get you. 

You let out a pained groan and sat yourself up. You sighed when Greg extended an arm to help you up and you defeatedly took it, as he pulled you up you let out a yelp from the pain that was centred around your ankle. You hobbled and fell into his arms, losing all balance completely as the antagonising pain from your sprained ankle was too much too bare. 

"You can't walk like this," Greg told you and placed an arm under both your own to support you "Sit down under that gap there. Least we'll have a bit of shelter from the rain." 

You quickly jumped over and sat yourself down on a mossy, uncomfortable rock. Greg kneeled and inspected your foot before ripping his shirt arm off "What are you doing?" You asked, sniffling slightly. 

"Binding your ankle to give it some support..." he uttered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

You hissed in pain when he tied it tightly before breaking down and sobbing into your hands. Greg was still kneeling and looked up to you with sad eyes and a heavy heart "You lied to me, they lied to me!" You peeled your hands away from your face and Greg's heart shattered at the slight of your tears streaming down your cheeks, the moonlight making them more predominant. "Why didn't you just tell me?" You asked in a whisper, if you spoke any louder your voice would break. 

Greg couldn't speak. He could never speak back then either, that's why he created the book. It was his voice. 

He let out a sigh and shrugged, he sat himself down next to you. You moved over a little out of sheer spite, crossing your arms as you did to provide yourself with a bit of heat as the cold rain continued to pour from the heavens as if the angels were crying along with you. 

The rain was the only noise surrounding both of you, you could see Greg shuffling out of the corner of your eye. You let out a sigh under your breath as you continued to wipe away tears, your gaze was burning into the dead leaves and mud in front of you. 

"'I don't know how to tell her I'm afraid..." Your heart almost stopped hearing Greg's voice break through the rain. You knew what he was quoting. You knew because it was your favourite poem in the book. 

You sat up straight and your gaze softened as you turned to look at Greg as he continued talking "Afraid of what's out there when I look at the night sky. Afraid that one day the earth might just end. Afraid to tell her how I really feel. How do I tell her when I barely know what to tell myself?"

"That's my favourite..." you whispered as another tear slipped down your face. 

Greg smiled to himself "It was the very first one I wrote, about two weeks after I met you I wrote it. Funny after all this time I still don't know what to say." His smile fell and your gaze flickered from Greg's face to your knees. 

"Wh-" you cut yourself off with a small huff, trying to find the right words "Why did you never tell me? Not just the book but...everything?" 

"I was so afraid!" Greg admitted with a shrug and half a smile, he was trying not to burst into tears "I was so afraid of stumbling over my words or you not feeling the same so I wrote and wrote until one day I had so many poems that I decided to keep them in a book. I have no idea where I found the courage to give you it, your birthday was the best excuse I had. I remember you saying you had read all the poetry books in the library and needed another one to function. was a good excuse to give it to you." He lightly laughed and you smirked as you wiped away tears. "Sally and I weren't really a proper couple to be honest," your smile fell slightly at the mention of her name. 

"What do you mean?" You asked. 

"We just kinda...hung out? I think in three months we kissed twice," he let out a snort of laugher and you felt a smile tug at your lips "I never meant to compare you to her. I didn't ever realise I was doing it. I'm sorry Y/N." 

You unfolded your arms and shuffled over a little. Your hand began to slowly creep over to his and you placed it on top of his, despite the cold, wet weather, it was warm. You let out a contented sigh as you made brushing motions over his hand before resting your hand on top of his and slipping your fingers into the gaps between his. "I wish you would have just told me..." you breathed out and your tears began to subside. 

"Me too, I realise now that I should have told you how I felt a long time ago..." you placed your head on his shoulder and he rested his head on yours, a subconscious reaction. 

Greg could feel you vibrating slightly, the coldness in the air was starting to get to you and you couldn't help but shiver. Greg shifted shifted and wrapped an arm around you, he too left without a jacket. "Don't be mad at them Y/N, you know they only did what they thought was best."

"I know..." you trailed off "They're good friends, with good hearts. They're like family."

"Shall we get back to them?" He suggested. 

"What time is it?" You asked, noticing he had his watch on. 

"It's..." he drawled out as he checked "Midnight," he croaked out "Its Midnight." 

"Midnight." You repeated in a whisper before looking up to him and quoting the words he once wrote "If there's a thing that I love almost as much as you it would be the strike of midnight..." Greg blinked in surprise as you continued "Why? Because it's a new beginning. Twenty four hours not to reprise but to start again. A new beginning. Every twenty four hours, upon the stroke of midnight."

Greg joined in at the last sentence "It's time blessing us to start anew." 

You smiled placed a chaste kiss on his cheek "We should get back..." 

"I'll carry you," Greg stood up and bent down in front of you and you climbed onto his back "Don't expect to be carried all the time. I'm only doing this because you hurt your ankle!" He smiled and you lightly laughed. 

"I remember you saying you'd never give me a piggy back again after you took me home one night after a night out with Jim and Mary. God, that was a horrendous night, I was ill for two weeks!" You groaned and placed your chin on the top of Greg's head. 

"Yeah I remember cause I went to visit you everyday to make sure you were alright!" He chortled and you smiled to yourself. 

"You were always good to me...although after that night I wasn't sure why you ere so nice to me since I was sick on your shoes!" You let out a loud bark of laughter. Greg laughed as he climbed out the ravine with you on his back. 

You made it back to the camper, both drenched and cold but with smiles on your faces. Greg placed you down just outside the door and you thanked him for carrying you. Greg smiled and shook his head "You were always such a handful!" He playfully teased. 

"Well that's why you've got two hands..." you winked and limped into the camper van. Greg raised an amused brow before following you in. Maybe things were starting to look up for the both of you.


	17. Chapter 17

You jumped and woke up hearing a loud bang first thing in the morning. You squinted your eyes to adjust to the light flooding the room before looking up and seeing Greg, who had also just been woken up, lying beside you. Your hair was still damp from last night "Morning..." you whispered. 

"Morning," he whispered back with a smile. 

"They aren't back!" You heard Mary's booming voice. 

"That's it I'm going looking for them. I knew I should have went looking last night!" You heard Jim and you looked at Greg. You sat up in bed, wincing a little at the pain from your sprained ankle. 

"Maybe we should call the police?" Molly suggested. 

"We should split up, we'll cover more ground that way." Sherlocks voice echoed though the walls. 

"What do you think this is Sherlock? An episode of Scooby Doo?!" Jim snapped and you decided to let your presence be known. 

"I like Scooby Doo..." you called out and Greg let out a snort of laugher as he sat upright. The van fell silent before the door to your room burst open, you smiled seeing everyone prepared to tackle the wilderness to find you both. 

"You're back?" Sherlock asked. 

"No shit, Sherlock..." you sassily replied. 

"Y/N!" Both Mary and Molly screamed in delight and relief before throwing themselves at you on the bed, pushing Greg out and landing on you. 

"We are so sorry!" Molly hugged into your right hand side. 

"We didn't mean to upset either of you!" Mary's voice was muffled as she hugged your left. 

"It's okay, we aren't mad at you and we forgive you." You smiled and the two sat up with beaming smiles on their faces. Your eyes caught on to Jim who was standing at the back of your group of friends, his eyes dropping to the floor with a somber expression on his face. 

"Can I talk to you, Jim?" You asked "Alone..." he slowly looked up and nodded. Mary and Molly got off the bed and Greg grabbed his clothes to change into then left the room along with everyone else. Jim softly shut the door behind him. He looked up to you and you patted the bed with a small smile. 

Jim sat down beside you before throwing himself at you "I was so scared I lost you," his voice broke and you felt your eyes welling up "I would have never have forgiven myself if something happened to you."

"Well I'm alright," you pulled back and noticed Jim shedding a few tears which you wiped away with your thumb. "I sprained my ankle a little but other than that no damage done." 

"I'm sorry I kept a secret from you. I just wanted you to be happy..." he blubbered. 

"Oh come here you," you were getting choked up yourself. You rocked from side to side as you hugged Jim "Lie down beside me..." you whispered and shifted so you were lying down and Jim lay beside you. 

"Do you remember the first day we met?" You asked resting your hands on your stomach, you knotted your fingers together as you turned your head to look at Jim. 

The Irishman let out a snort of laughter as his tears began to subside "How could I forget? We were the only two weirdos in town that went to see 'Angus, thongs and perfect snogging' the day before the cinema stopped showing it." 

You giggled and shook your head slightly "I was sitting three rows in front of you to the right hand side and you were in the far left and I shouted across and asked you if you wanted to sit anywhere with me."

"I was so shy back then I can't believe I said yes!" Jim crinkled his noise slightly "Best thing I've ever done," he told you with a smile. 

"I think it was down to the fact I had a huge box of popcorn and I couldn't eat it all myself." 

"Then we went to Burger King afterwards..." Jim smiled to himself. 

"You said to me 'Y/N, you should see me in a crown' and I managed to convince the woman behind the counter to give me one of those paper crowns and I gave it you. You called yourself a king for weeks after it..." you added and looked up to the ceiling. 

Jim nodded with a laugh "I still have that!"

"I still have the movie ticket from that day..." you whispered and looked up to him before the two of you embraced each other in a hug. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Jim's voice was muffled slightly but you could still hear it breaking. 

"It's okay, Jim," you reassured the Irishman "Just no more secrets." 

Jim pulled back and was about to open his mouth but John opened the door and managed to butt in first "Just to let the two of you know that's us leaving. Greg's going to drive for a while. We'll be in Scotland soon, two more days and we'll be seeing the northern lights."

"Yeah but then after that we'll be going home, there's only a few days left..." you whined and the camper jolted as Greg drove it out of the woods.

John smiled "I'm sure this won't be our last road trip together. I think Mary's planning another one as we speak..." John trailed off before shutting the door over, it didn't close fully and was slightly ajar. 

"Y/N..." Jim drawled out your name in a low tone. It made your eyebrows raise with suspicion. 

"What?" 

Jim let out a shaky breath "No more secrets?" He rhetorically asked and you instantly grew concerned, especially since he was avoiding looking at you in the eye. 

"Jim...what is it?" You we're getting more and more worried, especially when it took him so long to answer. 

He looked up to you and blurted out the words "Sherlock kissed me." 

You took a minute to register what he had said, at first you weren't even sure if he had said those words. Then it sunk in and Jim was quick to cover your mouth with his hand as you screamed with delight, frantically kicking your legs about and accidentally kicking the wall with your bad foot. 

"OW Y/N!" Jim screamed as you accidentally bit his hand as an automatic response to the pain shooting through your foot. 

When Jim pulled his hand away you let out a scream mixed with pain and happiness "What's going on?" You heard Greg shout from the front of the camper. 

"I think Y/N hurt her foot again!" Jim shouted back whist trying to calm you down. 

"You think?!" Greg didn't sound pleased with Jim's response "Is she okay?"

"I'm fine!" You shouted back and ignored your pain while ~~interrogating~~ questioning Jim. "When did this happen? What was it like? Did you tell him how you feel? Who kissed who first? Did he kiss you first? Did you-"

"One question at a time!" Jim cut off your ramblings "Okay I'll give you the short version. When you stormed off yesterday I was quite upset-" your smile fell sightly and a pang of guilt spread though your chest. You didn't mean to upset Jim and you felt horrible that you did "When Greg left to go after you I ran into the room and crashed onto the bed bawling my eyes out..." your hand moved to cup his cheek and he automatically placed his hand on top of yours "It's okay," he smiled to reassure you. Jim continued as as he did a smile spread across his face "Sherlock came in after me and shut the door. He didn't say anything. He eventually sat down beside me and rubbed my back. I sat up and crashed into him, pretty much tackling him to the bed."

Jim paused to smile even wider "He didn't mind." 

You smiled for him, you could see how happy he was getting. You could see years of worry melt away as he spoke. He was always so afraid that his love for Sherlock wasn't requited. 

"We lay in silence for a while," Jim kept talking, breaking your chain of thought "Then I looked up to him and he kissed me. Sherlock actually made the first move. Then we fell asleep, it was so cozy just being held in his arms." 

You let out a small, delighted squeal "I'm so happy for you! That's so cute! So are you two going to make it official?" You suggestively wiggled your eyebrows and Jim's eyes rolled back into his head as his face flushed red. 

"We'll take it slow for now." Jim couldn't stop smiling and other could you, you were so happy for him. "Talking about officialness what about you and Greg."

"Shut your face, we're talking about you!" You had a hint of playfulness in your voice but Jim wasn't having any of it. 

"Nuh uhh we talked about my love life so we're talking about yours too!" He wasn't backing down. 

You let out a sigh and shrugged your shoulders "I don't know Jim. We had a chat last night, a proper chat. One that we should have had a long time ago." 

"That's a good start," Jim reassured you. 

"A start to what? I don't really know we're we stand..." you trailed off and shifted over, resting your head on Jim's shoulder "Since you and Sherlock are going to be all 'couple-y' does this mean we have to stop pranking him?" 

"The day we stop pranking him is the day we die." You let out a laugh and gave him a high five. 

"What are you two up to?" You looked up to the door and found Greg standing there. 

"I thought you were driving?" Jim asked sitting up in the bed. 

"I was but I'm knackered so Mary offered to drive for a while while I take a nap." 

"I'll take that as my queue to leave..." Jim swung his legs out of the bed and turned to you, shooting a wink in your direction as you sunk further into the bed with embarrassment. Greg's shut the door over and stripped off his top and jeans. 

Seeing him standing there in next to nothing always made you forget to breathe for a minute. He climbed into the bed and you lay down next to him "Did you ask them to wake us up for dinner?" You asked in a whisper, trying to disguise the nervous tremor in your voice. 

"I did, Molly will wake us up..." he breathed out and shut his eyes. You watched him fall asleep, when he was in a deep enough sleep his mouth gaped open a little. 

You moved closer to him and kissed his forehead before a poem of his flooded through your mind _'There's nothing that would make me more happy than lying next to you for a few hours simply to forget the world for a while.'_

You smiled as you shut your eyes and eventually your hands found each other, intertwining as you slept.


	18. Chapter 18

"Dinner's ready!" You woke up to Molly's voice and her fist knocking on the door to your bedroom. 

You let it a groan and felt yourself being drawn to the warmth of Greg's chest "If I wasn't so hungry I'd keep sleeping," you sleepily grumbled with your eyes shut. Your head bumped up and down as Greg's chest rapidly moved as he laughed. 

"Me too..." Greg contently hummed before getting out of the bed and getting changed. He left you to change and you did as quickly as you could, you were starving. 

When you stepped out of your room you found everyone at the dinner table lightly laughing away as their knees touched under it. You smiled to yourself before sitting down. It was as if you were having dinner with family. 

You sat down opposite Greg and glanced over his shoulder out of the window "Are we in Scotland?" 

John nodded "Yup, tomorrow we'll head to Edinburgh before going up north to see the northern lights. We'll drive back down and end up in London in a few days time." 

"I can't wait!" Mary squeaked out "It's going to be incredible." 

You were eating away when you felt a foot brush against yours. Your eyes flickered up to Greg who smiled bashfully at you, you cheeks flushed red and you played footsie with him under the table. 

"What are you smiling at?" Sherlock questioned and the smile was quickly wiped off your face. 

"Nothing. It's just the food is really good..." you made up an excuse. 

Sherlock narrowed his eyes "Mary cooked it, it's not that great." The whole table gasped, Mary the loudest. John stifled a giggle before Mary's deadly glare shut him up. "It's uh...better than great. It's astounding." 

You smirked and continued eating before you all retreated to the couch for a movie night. You lay out on the couch over Sherlock and Greg since there was hardly any space with you all crammed into the one bit. Your head was resting between the arm of the couch and Sherlock's lap, Greg was soothingly rubbing your ankle while Sherlock was running his fingers though your hair, gently massaging your scalp. 

"Look at Y/N, she's like the Queen of Sheba." You glanced over to Jim and smirked. 

"There's only one queen in this camper van and it's you, Jim." Everyone laughed at your comment. All except Jim who childishly licked his hand before standing up smearing the saliva that was on it all over the face. "Jim!" 

You wiped your face with the sleeve of your jumper before reaching down to your glass of water that was by Sherlock's feet and dipping your fingers in it, retaliating against Jim and flicking water at him. 

The Irishman let out a unamused growl and tightly grabbed ahold of his mug that contained cold tea. 

"Not in the camper!" John yelled like an exasperated parent but it was too late, Jim had thrown the tea at you. 

But you were quicker than Jim and sat up, scooting onto Greg's thighs and leaving an unknowing Sherlock in the firing line. When you turned to face Sherlock, tea was dripping off his curls and the tip of his nose, Jim's mouth gaped open and he placed his hands over it "I didn't mean that!" 

Sherlock calmly stood up "James...you grab her legs, I'll get her by the arms."

"Wait what?" You went wide eyed and screamed at the top of your lungs as the two men picked you up and carried you to the shower "No! No!" You tried not to laugh through your screams "Greg! Help! Mary! Anyone!" You tried kicking free but the two men had put you in the shower and turned it on. 

You shrieked as freezing water cascaded over you "You bastards!" You hysterically laughed and after a few good seconds they turned it off. You stood up and glared at Jim before a sinful smirk took over your face. "Come here," you softly spoke as you held out your arms. 

"No Y/N! Get away!" Jim giggled and pushed Sherlock out the bathroom so he could run away. You limped after them before coming into contact with Greg, wrapping your arms around him as an automatic response for revenge. 

"Y/N!" He groaned "I'll get you back for that!" He let you hug him and the warmth coming off of him began to heat you up, it made your skin tingle. 

You pulled back slowly "I should change," you whispered and turned in your heal and rushed to your room, quickly changing and drying off your hair with Molly's hairdryer that you borrowed. 

You swapped places with Greg who changed and everyone called it a night so you returned to your room, finding Greg already in bed with his eyes wide open. You climbed in beside him, he was now being sandwiched between you and the wall. 

You glanced to the bedside cabinet and found the book. The book he wrote. You took it in your hand and turned to Greg, gently pressing it to his bare chest "Read me your favourite..." you whispered. 

"Why?" Greg asked with furrowing brows and a crinkling nose. 

"I want to hear you speak the words you wrote," he took the book from you and you shut your eyes as he flicked through the pages, the pieces of paper making a light fluttering noise as he did. 

The noise stopped and Greg breathed in before speaking "I know I'll never be able to tame her heart. But in all honesty, I'd never want to. Why would I want to? It's wild. It's got a mind of its own. She doesn't know how powerful it is. If she did, she'd be ruling lands. She has already ruled me." 

You had read that poem dozens of times but there was something about the way he read it that made it feel so different, as if the words were attacking your heart, pinning it down with rope and dragging it towards him. "Thank you," you whispered and reopened your eyes to take the book from him. You settled back down on the bed and turned to face Greg again, a bubble of silence was starting to crush you both. "I'm sorry," you apologised again "I shouldn't keep running off the way I do." 

"Y/N you can't run away from your problems, they'll eventually catch up to you." Greg was right, as always. You smiled and shut your eyes as you both bid each other goodnight before you fell into a dreamless sleep. 

\---

"I feel like we've walked for miles!" Mary held onto a wall as she panted between complaining, her other hand held onto her side as she felt a stitch antagonise that area. 

"Well it's called the Royal Mile, Mary. Clue's in the name." Sherlock stated the obvious as his hair blew about in the wind. In fact, everyone was getting blown about as you all stood outside Edinburgh castle. It was terribly windy. 

"Molly and I will go grab the tickets!" Anderson smiled and they walked off hand in hand. You took out your phone and took some photos of the castle and Edinburgh, snapping a few photos of the Firth of Forth. You found Jim beside you and stood back, snapping a few photos of him. 

"Want me to grab Sherlock?" You asked, lowering your phone. 

"Why?" He narrowed his eyes and glanced over to the tall, curly haired brunette. 

You smirked "To take some photos of you both! Might come in handy someday. I could use them at your wedding," you winked and Jim lightly shoved you. 

"I hate you. It was one kiss..." he grumbled you interlocked your arm with his, walking back over to the group "And anyway I should say the same for you and Greg..." you looked up to a smug Jim before he grabbed both your arms, stopping you in your tracks. "Remember Y/N, you're someone's reason to smile..." A grin spread from ear to ear on your face before Jim continued "Because you're a joke." 

You let out a roar of laughter "Oh fuck off!" You laughed with Jim who wrapped an arm around your shoulder and led you back to the group. Molly and Anderson returned with the tickets and you all made your way to the castle. You felt a tap on your forearm. Greg. 

"Wait a second..." he said and found his phone. 

"What are you doing?" You asked with a rising brow. 

"Taking a photo of us," he held out the phone in front of you both and you smiled as he took it with your cheek and his smushed together "There we go!" He put away his phone. 

"Why'd you want to take a photo?" 

Greg walked forward and turned, expertly walking backwards "Dunno," he shrugged "Might come in handy someday." He half joked and turned back around again leaving you frozen in place. 

You couldn't feel the smile on your face, but it was there.


	19. Chapter 19

"You brought old clothes with you didn't you?" Mary asked as you helped her clear up after dinner. Edinburgh was now a distant memory and Greg had drove the van up the east coast of Scotland to the campsite, perched on the top of a cliff and overlooking the sea. 

"Yup," you replied popping the 'p' "Why did I have to bring them?" 

Mary smiled and put away the plates "Well when we arrive at the campsite for the night, before we watch the northern lights, we're going to play 'paint twister'!" You turned your head to her, scrunching your nose "What?" She laughed out. 

"Paint twister? Do you know how chaotic that going to be?" You tossed the dishtowel to the side and leaned against the kitchen worktop "I know for a fact Sherlock's going to be wearing a shower cap to protect his 'precious' hair." You wiggled your fingers and Mary burst out laughing. "I'll go and get changed..." you pushed yourself up and went into your room, closing the door behind you and grabbing your old clothes to change into. 

You stripped off your top and grabbed your old one. "Y/N?" The door opened and Greg caught a glimpse of your bare skin and black lace bra...his favourite.   
He nervously cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck, quickly diverting his eyes away from you. 

You looked up, not knowing that he saw anything "Hey! Sorry did you need something?" 

"No! No!" He shook his head and held up his hand "Just let me know when you're done and I'll get changed." 

"Ahhh Mary told you?" You smirked. 

Greg nodded with a laugh "She did and I'm warning you right now that I'm taking you down!" You rolled your eyes and Greg cleared his throat again "Let me know when you're done..." he swiftly left the room and you went back to getting changed. 

Twenty minutes later you were all outside, John had just finished setting up the twister mat with paint on it. "Two teams!" Mary announced "Word of warning," she looked to you and Jim "The people have decided that Y/N and Jim are on separate teams."

"What?!" You and Jim both screamed out at the same time with gaping mouths. 

"That's not fair!" You whined. 

"Yeah!" Jim interjected "The people can go fuck themselves..." he uttered out under his breath and you let out a snort of laughter. 

"It's alright Moriarty, I'll go easy on you." You tapped his shoulder lightly. 

"You better watch out Y/L/N, I don't take any prisoners!" 

"Alright!" Mary captured everyone's attention again "The groups are, team one; Sherlock, John, Y/N and Molly. Team two; Myself, Jim, Anderson and Greg." 

You got into position and Anderson spun your first shot. Right hand to blue. You hand was submerged in the blue paint and you waited for your next shot after everyone else had taken their turn. You eventually ended up with limbs everywhere, some of them intertwined with other people's limbs. Jim was the first to slip and end up face first in yellow paint. Anderson laughed so hard he followed shortly after, getting covered in red paint. 

"Y/N right leg to green!" Mary hollered out, she was struggling to speak from her awkward position. You lifted up you leg and placed it between Greg's. 

You shifted slightly, half your body hovering over his "This is a compromising position..." he trailed off, wiggling his brows with a laugh. 

You bit down on your lip and squeezed your eyes shut, trying to refrain yourself from laughing. "Stop it," you warmed with a grin "I know you're what you're trying to do!" 

"Is it working...?" He asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. You cleared your throat and composed yourself. 

"No," you simply replied with a serious look on your face. Then you blinked and you felt a sudden shift in your heart, a shift of remembrance. You looked down on him with a smile, just like before. Something you had done many times. 

Wether it was from jumping on the bed to wake him up, hovering over him with that smile of yours until his eyes fluttered open or just after you had both physically proclaimed your love to one another and you'd hover over him with nothing on you apart from that smile. 

"Greg, right arm to red." He moved, breaking your train of thought as he shifted from under you. He bumped against your arm and it gave way. You fell on top of him and everyone else followed getting covered in the-now swirled together-paint. 

You let out a roar of laughter with the others and looked up to Greg who was looking down at you with a grin. You were lying on his chest. A familiar feeling, one that felt as natural as the sun rising in the morning. 

"Greg! Now we've lost!" Jim whined and you quickly rolled off Greg. 

"Sorry!" Greg held his hands up in defence. 

"So much for you taking me down!" You playfully taunted Greg, childishly sticking your tongue out. 

Greg furrowed a brow "Technically I did so..." he made the same gesture as you and you retaliated by smearing the paint that was on your hand all over his face. You ran away wth a squeal as he chased after you, he managed to catch up to you and picked you up from behind, spinning you on the spot until you were both dizzy. 

Mary nudged John who took his phone to capture the moment. Your head thrown back with laughter as Greg spun you around. 

"You need a picture with the winner, Greg!" Molly spoke up with a sly smirk on her face. 

"Yeah!" Mary instantly agreed and John handed his girlfriend his phone. "Squeeze together!" She motioned you both with her hand. You huddled up beside him before grabbing his hand and holding it up in the air to claim your victory. 

Greg glanced over to you, remembering another poem he wrote; _'The universe held my hand today. Yet she does not know she is one'_

You lowered your hand and it felt like time had slowed for Greg for a moment as you turned to him with a tilted head and a growing smile. He blinked out of his trance and placed a kiss to your cheek, leaving a smudge of paint and a burning sensation on your skin. "Well done for winning..." he trailed off and walked away to where Anderson and Sherlock were standing. 

Your cheek was still burning. 

\---

"Hurry up Sherlock! It doesn't take that long to shower!" You banged on the door. 

You were the last to shower and the paint was starting to dry in and leave cracks on your skin. 

"With hair as amazing as mine it does!" He shouted from behind the door. 

You rolled your eyes "Just hurry up!" Seconds later the door opened "Finally!" You rushed in and turned on the shower, stripping off and tossing your paint stained clothes to one side. Thank goodness you listened to Mary and brought old clothes, they were completely ruined. 

You dried yourself off and out in your pyjamas, trying your best not to bang your elbows off the bathroom's narrow walls. Once you emerged everyone was sitting outside on blankets and looking up to the darkening sky. 

Greg popped his head in the door "You ready? It's almost time!" 

You nodded your head with a smile and greg lightly laughed "What?" You asked with a smile. 

"You've still got a bit of blue paint on your nose. Come here," he motioned you forward to the kitchen sink and you walked forward. He wet kitchen towel under running water before placing his fingers under your chin and lifting your head up, slowly removing the paint. His touch sent sparks though your body. He could probably feel the heat coming off your face on his fingertips. 

"Thanks," your voice didn't raise above a whisper. 

Greg gazed into your eyes and softly smiled at you before pulling away completely. "Are you coming outside?"

"Yeah, uh..." you motioned with your thumbs to your room door "I have to do something first. I'll get you outside." 

"Oh sure!" Greg smiled and it was infectious. He left and so did the air that was trapped in your lungs. You rushed to your room and scanned for the two things you needed. Your smile spread from ear to ear when you found what you were looking for. 

A pen and a piece of paper.


	20. Chapter 20

You finally came out of the camper, tightening your dressing gown around you feeling the cold leeching onto your skin. "Finally!" Mary looked up from the blanket she was on. You smiled at her and decided to lie down beside Sherlock who had the most space beside him. Your eyes flicked over to Greg who was deep in conversation with Anderson. 

"Hey you," you whispered to Sherlock. 

He turned his head slightly "Hi...when's this light show supposed to start? It's freezing!" 

"Well it should be soon, you can't exactly ask for demands from atmosphere..." you trailed off. You could hear the waves below you softly crashing against the cliff. "Jim told me...about the kiss..." your voice went even lower and Sherlock tensed "I know your scared. It's okay."

"But Mycroft-"

You cut him off "Who cares what he thinks! You rule your heart Sherlock, you are your own person and you should bloody go for it!" You lightly laughed and Sherlock cracked a smile. 

He looked at you before a glimmer of green caught his eye "Oh fuck..." he softly uttered and sat up on his elbows with his eyes glued to the sky. You glanced up and chortled at his response to the lights. 

"Are you serious? We are witnessing one of earths most beautiful, natural phenomenons and all you can you say is _'Oh fuck'_ " you giggled. 

"Yes, that is my automatic response upon seeing earths most beautiful, natural phenomenons." Sherlock tore his eyes away from the sky and looked at Jim with a growing smile. "It was also the same thing I said to myself when I first saw Jim..."

Your laughter hitched. You looked at Sherlock with wide eyes, shocked that those words actually left his mouth. 

"I'm going to take him for a walk and as him if he want to be more than friends..." Sherlock's face was illuminated by shades of green, turquoise and purple, you could tell he was blushing, even if it was difficult to see. Sherlock stood up and you nodded approvingly, you watched him ask him to go for a walk and the Irishman slowly stood up and they walked off together. 

"Incredible isn't it?!" Molly chirped and sat by you along with Mary. 

"Incredible," you breathed out and looked up to the sky that encapsulated you once again. You could never grow tired of it. Each time you looked up the lights were different, they swirled and created waves amongst the stars "Thank you for convincing me to come." You pecked Mary's cheek "It's beautiful." You reached your hand out like you could swim your fingers between the colours "I could stay here forever..." 

"Me too..." Molly breathed out. 

"We should do it again next year. Would you all be up for it again?" Mary asked.

"I'd love to!" You almost yelled "I could never get tired of this..."

Molly and Mary remained on the mat with you for the good part of an hour before you sat up to stretch your relaxed muscles out a little. Your eyes caught Sherlock and Jim in the distance...holding hands. 

A smile spread over your face and you tightened your dressing gown around you. Your hands collided with paper and your heart fluttered. 

You had almost forgot about that. 

The lights had distracted you with their beauty. They drew you in with their twisting, ethereal colours. You looked down to your watch and decided it was now or never. You shakily stood up-from nerves and from sitting to long-and walked over to Greg who was still chatting away. 

"What to go for a walk?" You asked. 

Greg nodded with a smile, quickly standing on his feet and walked with you away from the group. "It's beautiful isn't it?" He asked. 

"Stunning," you whispered and looked up "Magical even..." you softly mused. 

Your silence was disturbed momentarily by Greg's watch beeping at the stroke of midnight. He stopped the beeping noise and your heart almost did the same as you threw away every ounce of caution in your body. 

You handed him the piece of paper as if he knew what do do with it. But he didn't. He looked at it in confusion. 

"Read it," your voice laced with the wind. Your friends were so far back they looked like ants. 

Greg opened the letter and studied every word that you wrote; _'You say I'm a universe but tell me something...  
What is a universe without stars? Without planets? Moons? Asteroids? Star dust? Nebulas that are swirled with every colour imaginable?  
You need those things in a universe. It's what makes a universe, a universe.   
So what am I without you?   
In short...a universe lacking any sort of integrity.   
It isn't whole. It doesn't inhabit any fire, passion, life, or love.   
I'm only a universe because you made me one. You were the bang in my Big Bang. You ignited something inside me.   
As much as you'd argue with me until you were blue in the face that this isn't true, that I was always a universe, I was never a universe until you made me realise that I had the potential to be one.   
Greg, you are the moon to my sun, the planets to my solar system...and the love of my life.'_

When he didn't speak after reading it, you did. 

"I love the northern lights..." 

"I know," he answered not tearing is eyes away from the piece of paper. 

"I love stars..."

"I know," did he only know those two words now? 

"I love looking up to the sky and looking at it for hours. But if there's one thing that I've learned from this short trip...is that I love, and will love you, the most." You confessed with your heart on the brink of beating so fast that it had the potential to malfunction. 

Greg looked up to you and it was then you noticed his eyes were filled with tears. But he was smiling. The colours above you in the sky didn't look as beautiful as he did right now. They didn't even have a chance of competing with him. 

You placed a hand on his cheek and rubbed his cheekbone with your thumb "I remembering seeing you after all that time..." you whispered "Seeing you on the camper after so many months apart from when I last saw you and I knew then that I never stopped loving you. Not even for a minute." 

"I've loved you since the moment I first met you." Greg admitted and placed both hands on either side of your face and eagerly kissed you as if he'd been waiting for this his entire life, the paper that was still in his hand hit against your face but you didn't care. All that mattered right now was you and Greg and the northern lights. 

He moved his hands sightly and you tilted your head, the whole kiss changed instantly from a tender one to a passionate one. Like the ones you'd share with him early in the morning when you had both woken up or he'd sometimes surprise you in the middle of the day with a kiss like the one you were sharing with him right now. 

You pulled back but not before gently peppering his mouth with little kisses "They're going to be so smug that their plan worked..." you uttered. 

Greg laughed against your skin, his mouth never wanted to leave your cheeks and lips now that he could do it again "They'll never let us live this down." He pecked your nose and you lightly shut your eyes at the sensation "I love what you wrote."

"It's not as good as yours," you said with your eyes still shut. 

"Well you can't beat the best..." 

The corner of your mouth twitched upwards and you lightly pushed his chest "Don't get cocky, smart arse." 

"I'm kidding, it's really good." 

"Thank you," that was a real complement coming from him. Greg was an amazing writer. A part of you couldn't believe he was joining the police and putting his natural ability and flair for writing to one side. But it was his life and you were happy for him whatever he did. 

The lights dulled down and eventually disappeared altogether. It was as if the universe knew everything had restored itself. 

You kissed him again. And again. And again. And again. 

You wanted to make sure that this was real. 

"Can we go back into the camper van and go to bed?" You asked as he wrapped his arms around you and held you tight, occasionally pressing the odd kiss on your hair. 

"Of course. Are we going to tell them?" 

"Tomorrow," you smiled "They'll have the whole day to get a kick out of it." 

You returned back but found that everyone was already inside the van. The northern lights couldn't last forever and the gang had retired to their bed as soon as they finished. 

You changed into your pyjamas and so did Greg. Neither of you were worried about changing in front of each other now that your feelings had resurfaced. You were sandwiched between the wall and him again. Greg placed a hand on your hip, the pads of his fingers against your skin. It felt like a day had passed since you were last like this with him. You wrapped a leg around his own and kissed him until you both fell asleep. 

You didn't dream that night. 

They had came true.


End file.
